Don't Wake Me Up
by NeVErFAdeiNG
Summary: Scarlett has been in love with Gaara, and the Narutoverse, for what could literally be defined as forever for her.Resigned that her one and only love Gaara will never exist except in her head, how will things change when he practically falls into her lap.
1. Chapter 1

_**This is something I started writing a while back. Like when I first started getting into Naruto. Just felt like posting it thanks to a song I heard today. Enjoy. Disclaimed where needed! Also the song in here can be found in the Devil May Cry anime. Don't know if that's the actual name but that is the right artist. It's a kick ass song.**_

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><p>Scarlett Hindricks is a dreamer, completely in love with someone who doesn't exist in her world. But god, if she wouldn't sell her soul to make him real.<p>

Scarlett opened her eyes that morning to be greeted once again by her favorite sight. Her wall scroll of Gaara staring at her with that haughty look she loved to get from him. She smiled and stretched before giving him her special good morning greeting.

"Good morning Gaara. How was your night?" she giggled a little and rolled off her bed. It wasn't a very long fall, her bed was only a mattress on the floor with blankets strewn across it, plus a few Naruto plushies.

She took the time to deactivate her alarm as it started ringing for the third time that morning. She then went into her bathroom and plugged her iPod into the speakers she kept in there for showering purposes. Scarlett was in a good mood this morning. Who knew why? Her mood was increased in its goodness when one of her favorite songs started playing.

Future in My Hands by Elena Houston blared to life as she started her shower water. Sure it was a song she had found through another anime but she'd be damned if it wasn't a good one. As she showered that morning Scarlett couldn't help but pretend that her leg razor was a mike and sing along.

Man was she in a good mood. She just had that feeling today. That feeling that today was going to be one of those days she looked into the cabinet and couldn't decide which cereal she was going to eat for breakfast. Those were always good days.

Showered and dressed, Scarlett checked herself over before she started making kissy faces at herself in her bedroom.

"Can I get a piece of that action?" her brother's best friend Chris asked with a chuckle, watching her from the doorway.

"Only if you're offering me a ride to school." she replied without missing a beat. Now you might be wondering why her brother's best friend was in Scarlett's bathroom. It was simple really. Scarlett had a big family that didn't have enough rooms to house them all.

So her and her brother Henery, being the oldest children, had moved out to make room. Chris ran a boarding house, it was a family business, and with a little convincing Scarlett had been allowed to live at the boarding house. Her parents trusted Chris; he had grown up with her and Henery.

Henery however had been forced to live at the college dorms because their parents had deemed it best that he had guidelines to follow. Scarlett was responsible; she could handle living in a boarding house. Henery was a rocker who needed a strict hand. That's what her parents thought anyways. Henery and Scarlett didn't complain. It gave them breathing room and Henery practically lived at the boarding house anyways.

Having a dorm room wouldn't stop that from happening.

Chris chuckled again. "Only if you're ready in the next few minutes. I got an errand to run before work." Scarlett nodded. "Be ready in five." she replied, then gave him a quick peck on the cheek before pushing past him to gather her school stuff.

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><p>Scarlett's Naruto school bag jangled with many Naruto themed key chains and pins, as she strode down the halls of her high school. Ear buds shoved into her ears music playing to drown out the static of other kids. Scarlett was considered weird in her small town school. Girls her age didn't understand anything past make-up, gossip, or boys. Boys her age didn't think about much but sports, eating, or what girl was putting out.<p>

Scarlett could have connected with the girls on the boy subject, if fictional boys counted. They didn't however and although Scarlett wasn't a total social pariah, she was still labeled a weirdo. People were nice to her because she was nice and didn't make waves.

That didn't make her any friends however, and she was often found alone reading her manga or nodding her head to some song on her iPod. She wasn't afraid to be different and show her almost obsessive love of all things Naruto. She liked other animes too and often sported t-shirts of them, but Naruto was the only one that had Gaara.

Gaara...Scarlett's one and only first love.

School wasn't a horrible place for Scarlett. She actually almost enjoyed it. Until lunch time. If she brought her lunch Scarlett was fine. She could shove a sandwich down her throat where ever she deemed it necessary, and would spend the rest of her time finishing any homework she had gotten. But if she had to go to the lunch room, she had to face Him. Scarlett would rather starve than do that.

Like most high school girls, Scarlett realized the importance of high school dating. She wasn't delusional and knew there was no way Gaara was going to come to her world and sweep her off her feet. So she had tried her hand a dating a real guy when she was a freshman. It had ended badly. She was now a senior and as much as Scarlett wanted to think she was over it, the truth was she was still bothered by it. She hadn't dated again after that, and avoided being around Him as much as possible. Classes with him she could handle, lunch room taunting she could not.

Scarlett had forgotten her lunch today. And having skipped breakfast to get a ride with Chris she was starved. So she had to brave the lunch room. Thankfully He seemed to be absent today. 'I knew today was a good day.' she thoght as she noted that lovely little fact. Her day was made even better when her boss called and told her she didn't have to come into work today. "Thank god." she said to herself after hanging up.

Scarlett hated her job but it paid the bills and supported her habit so she put up with it. Her boss giving her the day off gave her the next three days off, which was just fine with her. She planned to go home do some light reading or perhaps surf the net. It didn't matter so long as she got to live in her only little world of obsessive habits named Gaara. However her plans for lounging in her room were soon put to rest by her brother as she headed towards home.

Her brother was in a band with most of the boys who lived at the boarding house. Since Chris was in the band too they often practiced at the boarding house. The band wasn't horrible but they were loud and even Scarlett liked a little silence every now and again. They often started practice soon after Scarlett got out of school because that's when Henery was released as well. And Henery had just sent her a text notifying her of band practice.

Scarlett sighed. Now Scarlett could go home and listen to screeching guitars, go to her parent's house and listen to screeching kids, or...she could just hang out at the park down the street from the boarding house and enjoy a little quiet time.

She choose the last option naturally, and was found a few minutes later sitting on a bench as she enjoyed the greenery. Scarlett liked being outside sometimes. She would rather be inside with something Gaara related. But stepping back from everything was nice too. She pulled out her notebook and started working on homework she hadn't finished and just enjoyed the clean air. No electronics, no music, just air...and a million images of Gaara she kept thinking of.

He was an especially big issue on her brain right now and she didn't know why. Not that it bothered her. Scarlett was never too busy or distracted to have a good day dream about Gaara. So Scarlett shoved her notebook back into her bag and stared off into space losing herself in her thoughts. That's what Scarlett was drooling over when something big came crashing down from a tree scaring the crap out of her.

"What the hell!" she yelled jumping up and looking around for the source of the noise. She spotted a body laying at the foot of a nearby tree and quickly rushed over to help. It was facedown and was wearing some weird trench coat like thing that looked strangely familiar.

She kneeled next to it and was almost afraid to touch it. What if it was dead? Oh god, what if it needed CPR. Scarlett could certainly not do CPR. She had issues with other people's spit. That and she had never taken a class in her life; she hardly knew the first thing to do. Finally she took a deep breath and turned the body over only to find herself staring into the face of...Gaara?

What the heck was going on?


	2. Chapter 2

**_Uhhh...wow. I hadn't even realized this chapter was missing. How long has this been up? Well anyways, enjoy I guess and thanks again to the lovley, lovley person who pointed out my chapters were off. Thats' what reviews are for, to show you what you're missing._**

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><p>'So yeah...this is an issue.' Scarlett thought as she stared at the boy on her bed. After finding him unconscious under a tree Scarlett had dragged him back to the boarding house. Her brother and most of the other guys were thankfully still in the garage playing, and didn't hear or catch Scarlett as she dragged the young man up the stairs to her room. It hadn't been an easy task.<p>

The boy was heavy and Scarlett wasn't very athletic. But there wasn't anyone she could call and Scarlett wasn't about to let a very real looking Gaara lay passed out in a park. That would just be inhuman. So now here she was about an hour later bedroom door locked, sweaty, and more than a little breathless, as she stared at him. He looked so real.

The rings around his eyes looked different. They looked more like light bruises but you could see the puffiness. She gently touched the skin on the very edge of his eye. It felt like skin to her and no make-uppy residue came off on her finger. Getting braver, she then ran her finger over the kanji on his head. It felt very much like a scar, she didn't think it felt like a tattoo. Next she pulled her fingers through his hair.

Yep it defiantly wasn't a wig; it was way too soft for that. Scarlett scooted back to the edge of her bed and fought the urge to squeal. This guy was either an extremely good cos-player or he was the real thing.

Scarlett rolled back and kicked her legs in the air. It had to be him. Who cared how much sense that didn't make or if she was dreaming. Gaara no Sabaku was laying in her bed. Hers! She could die happy now. And probably would if her brother found him in here...or if Gaara woke up and flipped.

'Shit.' Scarlett thought as these realizations dawned on her. She could lock her door and tell her brother she was sick, but what would she tell Gaara when he woke up?

"Oh hi my name is Scarlett I found you unconscious at the park down the street. Oh by the way, don't mind the giant pictures of you. I'm just a fan not a stalker." Scarlett said out loud testing out the words. She shook her head and laughed. No, that wasn't going to work. He would think she was a freak for sure, and Scarlett wanted to make a good impression.

"What's so funny?" Her brother Henery called from the other side of the door making Scarlett jump.

"Just watching a funny video." Scarlett replied nervously.

"With the door locked? Dang Letti quit being such a perv." Her brother laughed. "I know what you're actually watching."

"Shut up!" Scarlett yelled trying not to sound too annoyed. It was a running joke between her and her brother that Scarlett actually spent all her time watching porn. Although some of the pictures she had seen of Gaara had been borderline, or just plain full blown naked, Scarlett didn't watch porn.

She wasn't interested in watching other people have sex and she wasn't really clear on why anyone else would be either. But it was a bonding joke thing for them so Scarlett usually just laughed it off. Tonight though, she wasn't in the mood.

What if Gaara heard?

"Whatever Letti. Hey we're going out to eat. Wanna come?" he asked changing the subject.

Usually Scarlett would jump up and down at the prospect of going out to eat with her brother and his band mates. It was better than her having to cook something, even though it meant her hanging around a bunch of smelly dudes. She looked over at Gaara who was still laying passed out on her bed. Not even the prospect of getting to eat some greasy enchiladas was going to tear her away from his side.

"Not tonight Hen, I don't feel like very good." Scarlett said then felt guilty when she heard the disappointment in his voice.

"Oh, are you sick?" Henery asked.

He did feel a little disappointed. Henery loved spending time with his sister. They were like best friends instead of siblings. They were exactly ten months apart and had grown up doing everything together. Now with him in college and her in her last year of high school he felt like they were drifting. He often asked her to dinner with him and the guys even when the guys protested, and she usually joined them. She must really not be feeling good for her to refuse.

Henery would have never guessed that she would be declining because she had a boy in her bed. Letti didn't do the boyfriend thing. Not since that prick in her freshman year. So after ordering her to drink some Gatorade and to make sure she ate something healthy, Henery was gone and Scarlett was left wondering what to do with Gaara.

She heard the boys leave and suddenly, with house empty, it felt very quiet and dark. The sun was going down and the shadows in her room were lengthening. She set up her laptop and turned on music. She left it at a low volume so she wouldn't disturb Gaara and then she sat there and stared at him. It was very stalkerish of her but she felt that if she took her eyes off him he would disappear.

Or she would wake up and find that this had all been a dream. It would be an amazing dream, but still, this being nothing but a fantasy in her head would make her very sad. Scarlett didn't know when she had decided to lay down, but she lay there looking at Gaara watching him sleep and fighting sleep herself. Too afraid to sleep but not awake enough to fight it anymore, Scarlett closed her eyes and was soon out cold.

Gaara woke and found himself in a strange place. He remembered running through the trees on his way to Konoha, he remembered his foot had slipped and he hadn't been able to catch himself. Then everything goes black. Feeling the mattress underneath him he knew he wasn't in the forest anymore and sat up. His eyes were met by the site of a dark room lit only by some weird bottle shaped lamp with specks of purple glitter floating around in it.

There were some large pictures on the walls but there wasn't enough light for him to tell what they were of. He could hear the faint sound of someone singing and looked around to locate the sound. At the foot of the bed lay a lump. Next to that lump sat a weird square thing that the music was coming from. Where the hell was he? This didn't look like any ninja house he had ever been in and he certainly wasn't in Sunagakure.

The air here was too moist and didn't have the bitter taste of sand in it. Thinking of sand, where was his gourd? He looked at the lump maybe it would know. He moved silently over to where it lay and studied it, not sure whether or not to touch it. Suddenly the lump turned over and Gaara scooted back into a defensive crouch. Then stared in wonder when he saw that the thing was actually a girl. Who the heck would leave a puny female such as this to guard him? He couldn't sense any chakra from her; she wouldn't even begin to be a match for him.

She slept there stretched out on her side, dark hair fanned out behind her. She could almost be considered a pretty little thing, but Gaara could sense an air of insecurity around her. Much like he sensed fear whenever he entered a room, it took away from her. At least in Gaara's book it did. Something glinted off her neck in the dim light and Gaara brought himself closer to examine it.

A necklace with Sunagakure's symbol on it hung around her neck. They couldn't be in Suna though, so who was she?

Scarlett had that weird feeling in her gut that told her she should open her eyes now. She had been fast asleep for a while but now she layed there afraid to open her eyes and see him gone. The feeling got stronger as did her curiosity so finally she finally opened her eyes. Gaara's face came into focus just inches from hers and they stared at each other.

She stared into his eyes and had to fight the urge to stroke his cheek. God he was so freaking handsome.

Gaara didn't like the way she looked at him, like she knew all his secrets. Like she could tell him things about himself not even he knew.

"Who are you?" He demanded with a glare.

All Scarlett could do was stare; she had no idea where to begin.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimed where needed!**

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><p>Gaara glared at Scarlett, disbelief plainly showing on his face.<p>

Scarlett tried not to let his angry eyes get to her. After all he had a reason to be angry at her. She was basically telling him he didn't exist, and Gaara had spent the better part of his life killing people just to prove his existence. Scarlett really didn't want to be telling him that his whole world was something imaginary in her world, but eventually he was going to see her posters.

That was going to be even funner to explain than telling him he was a story.

"It's not that you don't exist, it's just that you're not technically alive." Scarlett groaned when she realized what she said. Gaara concluded that this girl was crazy and that she must be a prisoner too. Although why Gaara thought he was trapped was exactly clear. He just had that feeling that something was keeping him in this room.

"I don't mean that you're dead. Its…I mean…gahhh! Here just let me show you!" Scarlett exclaimed giving up. She stood up and pulled a chain that was hanging from the ceiling and light flooded the room. Gaara's eyes widened and he instantly went on the defensive as he saw the large pictures of him hanging on the walls.

'What the hell?' he thought. He was certain he had never posed for any of these pictures in his life, and he knew for a fact that he had never posed for a picture with Naruto, or anybody else for that matter. Gaara didn't take pictures. How the hell did that girl get these pictures? He watched her intently making sure she wasn't going to grab a weapon or anything. Gaara was suddenly very wary of the girl standing before him.

Scarlett wasn't going after a weapon though. Instead she was at her bookcase grabbing a couple of her manga to show Gaara what she meant. She grabbed the volumes she needed and went back to her bed where Gaara was crouching looking ready to attack her. Scarlett tried not to roll her eyes. She understood his trust issue thing, but he should have been able to tell she wasn't a threat by now…even if she did seem like a creepy stalker chick.

She handed him the manga. "Here this is where you're supposed to exist. This is what you are here." She said and Gaara jerked the books out of her hands making her drop some. "Hey be careful! These took forever to collect!" she said bending down to pick them up.

They may not have been expensive books but it had taken her a while to get her collection like it was and she wanted to keep her books in a good condition. She hadn't spent all that money for something she wasn't going to take care of. She picked up the dropped books and looked back at Gaara who was holding the book like it was going to bite him. She noted the book number and the cover.

Gaara had grabbed the one where he was fighting Rock Lee. Seeing the look on his face Scarlett regretted grabbing that one. Gaara tried hard to ignore the tightening feeling in his chest as the scene in the book played out before him. He could remember that day clearly, the smell of blood when he had crushed Rock Lee's arm and leg and the look on Guy sensei's face when he had stopped Gaara from finishing him off.

He could almost still feel the pain it had caused him to see Guy protect Rock Lee and call him precious. Gaara looked up from the book to see the girl looking at him concerned. What had she said her name was? Scarlett? Yeah that was it, Scarlett. "How..did you…" Gaara couldn't even finish his sentence he was too confused.

"I know it must be hard for you to understand. I'm not even sure I get it myself." Scarlett said with a nervous laugh. "Like I said you feel out of a tree and I brought you back here. I don't know how you got in that tree and I don't know why you're in my world. I do know I'm not going to complain. You have no idea how cool it is that you're here." Scarlett had a huge smile on her face.

Gaara narrowed his eyes at her, anger rising. "What's so cool about finding out you're nothing but a figment of some guy's imagination?" Gaara asked with a deadly tone in his voice. He stood up and stared down at the girl before him. He wasn't that much taller than her, but Gaara had that kind of aura that made him intimidating. The smile on Scarlett's face was gone and she looked scared.

Good.

He wanted her to fear him. He wanted to see her cower at his feet like the stupid girl that she was. How could anyone think that being ripped away from everything you've ever known and being forced to accept that you didn't exist to be…cool?

Scarlett looked down at the floor; she could no longer meet Gaara's eyes. He looked so angry and hurt. Why did she have to be so stupid? Why couldn't she just say something intelligent for once?

"Sorry." She whispered forcing herself to choke back tears. If there was one thing Scarlett hated more than anything was the fact that she tended to be a cry baby. She would not let Gaara see her like that even if she had to lock herself in the bathroom and risk having him crawl out the window to get away from her. She would not cry in front of him.

"What?" Gaara asked, he thought he had heard her say sorry but he wasn't sure. She had said it so quietly and it wasn't very often people said sorry to him. Scarlett looked back up and met Gaara's gaze defiantly.

"I said Sorry. What I said was an incredibly stupid and inconsiderate thing for me to say. It's just…" she said trailing off. "It's just what?" Gaara asked crossing his arms. Scarlett took a deep breath and continued. "You're the coolest person I've ever met. Well read, watched, whatever. You've always been my favorite character. It's hard not to be amazed that you're standing in front of me."

Gaara's anger softened and he started yelling mentally at himself when he realized it. Was he really so pathetic that having Scarlett say he was her favorite character going to make him forgive her. He was nothing but a freaking story to her. It meant nothing. Still Gaara swallowed his anger. She knew this world and if he was ever going to get home he would need to survive here first.

"It's fine." Gaara said looking away from her. Scarlett noticed and felt her heart sink. Great he hated her. This was working out great. They stood in silence neither knowing what to say. Finally Gaara swallowed a little of his pride and asked.

"Will you show me where you found me?" He wanted to explore the place. Maybe he would find a clue to getting home, or at least his gourd. As awkward as that thing was to carry, he felt naked without it. Scarlett looked at the clock ticking on her wall before answering. Gaara just shook his head when he saw the clock held yet another picture themed around his world.

"It's too late at night for me to go out. But I can show you before I go to school in the morning." She replied.

"What's so scary about the night that you can't go out into it?" Gaara wondered curious as to why she wasn't allowed late at night. Scarlett shrugged.

"Nothing really my brother just doesn't like for me to go out after dark. It's probably how close we are to the college." Gaara was amazed that this girl had someone as powerful as him standing before her, knew how powerful he was, and still declined to go outside because they were near some place called a college.

He fought the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose like he saw Temari do so many times when Kankuro was around. He figured it meant annoyance and that's what he felt right now towards this girl.

"Oh!" Scarlett suddenly exclaimed. "Stay right here I just thought of something." She said and ran out of the room. Gaara thought about going after her but instead just plopped down on her mattress and sighed. He felt something lumpy underneath him wondering what he could be sitting on; he reached under and pulled out a little doll looking thing in his likeness. Gaara rolled his eyes.

God this girl was obsessed wasn't she? He threw the doll behind him and noticed and Naruto one half buried under a pillow. So she liked Naruto too huh? He looked at the books she had handed him earlier wondering just what his story was called.

"Naruto? He said aloud reading the title. Why was the book called Naruto when it was about him? Gaara went over to the bookshelf she had gotten the books from earlier and pulled out the book that had the number one on it.

Halfway through Scarlett popped back into the room carrying a plate and a bundle of stuff. She saw Gaara reading and tried to be quiet so she wouldn't disturb him. Gaara still closed the book with a snap and slid it back on the shelf, knowing now why it was titled Naruto. It wasn't about him at all. It was about Naruto, Gaara was just a side character. Why did that make him feel sad?

"Here" Scarlett said interrupting his thoughts and holding out the bundle of clothing to him. "You can't walk around in clothes like that. People won't like it very much. Trust me." Gaara accepted it. He had noted what she was wearing and had already decided he would find him some more appropriate attire later on. He guessed this girl wasn't as stupid as she seemed. Scarlett turned around and picked up the soda she had brought with her.

"I hope it fits. You looked about my friend Scotties' size so I got you some of his clothes." Scarlett opened her can and took a sip of her soda. She then back at Gaara to find him standing shirtless and about to take his pants off. Soda shot out of her nose and she quickly spun around her face burning.

"Don't change here! There's a bathroom right through that door!" Gaara didn't know why changing in the bathroom was such a big deal but he had seen her reaction and decided not to argue. Him being half naked was obviously making her uncomfortable. Gaara disappeared into the bathroom and Scarlett plopped down onto her bed with her heart racing.

It was one thing to look at a completely fake picture of Gaara naked. It was a completely different to have the real thing stripping in front of her. She was surprised it had been just soda that had shot out of her nose. Man did that burn.

Her heart probably wouldn't be able to take seeing that again.

"What possessed you to strip in the first place?" Scarlett said quietly to the poster of Gaara she always talked to. Gaara's picture said nothing and Scarlett sighed before she remembered that duh, Gaara was probably about as social awkward as anybody could get. He wouldn't be aware that stripping in public would be unacceptable. Or maybe he did know and just didn't care. Scarlett decided she liked her second theory better.

She heard the bathroom door open and looked over to see Gaara emerge wearing blue jeans and a wife beater with her brother's band name, FrozenStrawberries, written across it. Scarlett wondered how anyone could make such simple clothes look sexy.

Gaara wondered if he had something on his face.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimed where needed! Enjoy.**

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><p>Okay so she lied to her brother so she could stay with Gaara.<p>

What was so bad about that? It wasn't her first time to play sick to stay home, and she had a good reason to be lying. So why did she feel this gnawing guilt as she watched her brother leave for work? Scarlett sighed and turned away from the window to see Gaara staring at her. "You could have gone. I can take care of myself." He stated and Scarlett rolled her eyes.

"Yeah all alone in unfamiliar territory with no weapon, sounds like you'll be covered." She replied sarcastically and Gaara glared at her but he didn't say anything, she did have a point. His gourd was gone as well as his kunai and Gaara really didn't do much fighting.

Not that he couldn't fight he was just used to letting his sand work for him. So he kept silent as Scarlett put stuff into her bag, which Gaara noticed was covered in stuff themed form his world and rolled his eyes. Jeez what was wrong with this girl? Why would someone buy anything that had his, or anyone else from his world, face plastered on it? Scarlett straightened up and gave Gaara a nervous smile.

"Welp. I'm ready let's go." Gaara said nothing as he followed Scarlett out the door.

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><p>"This is where I found you." Scarlett said as she showed him the tree she had found him lying under. Gaara said nothing a quickly climbed up the tree much like the way Scarlett imagined a monkey would. Scarlett watched until Gaara disappeared into the think greenery, and then she felt very awkward staring up at a tree and looked around instead.<p>

She noticed two kids in the distance who were coming closer. As they came into focus Scarlett recognized who one of them was.

"Crap" she whispered and looked for someplace to hide. Gaara jumped out of the tree at that moment and Scarlett hid herself behind him as the two boys went pass.

Sensing something was wrong Gaara didn't move a muscle as the two passed by him, and then didn't object when Scarlett grabbed his arm and stared pulling him along with her as she quickly ran away through the trees, dodging them almost as well as a ninja would.

Scarlett ran like a scared rabbit trying hard not to think about if He had seen her or not. She couldn't think that then she would have a panic attack, or cry. Neither was a good option in front of Gaara. Finally Scarlett felt she was far enough away and collapsed on the ground breathing heavily.

Gaara said nothing as he stared down at her but his eyes asked for an explanation that Scarlett didn't really want to give. She owed him something at least.

He seemed to have an aversion to touching her but had let her drag him through the park without so much as a please, and had hidden her so that He wouldn't see her. So Scarlett took a deep breath before giving Gaara a forced smile.

"That was…someone it would be best to avoid. He's a bad person." Gaara gave her another look, one that said she was being pathetic, but still he said nothing. This was her issue and he had no reason to get involved.

Scarlett stood up and wiped the dirt off her butt then gave Gaara the biggest smile she could muster

"Come on I have a great idea." Gaara walked silently next to Scarlett as she led him through the busy streets of her town. Scarlett was silent too, lost in her own thoughts. She looked kind of sad, Gaara almost felt something like pity for her and wondered just who that boy was. Scarlett willing let herself fall asleep on the same room as him and Gaara had killed people. What had this boy done that made Scarlett run at the mere sight him?

Still mild curiosity or not, Gaara didn't really care enough to get involved. They soon arrived at a small shop with intricate designs painted on the door but no name hung anywhere that Gaara could see. Scarlett pulled the door open and a chiming bell clanged. "Welcome!" a group of female voices sounded as they entered and Gaara was greeted by the sight of girls waiting tables dressed in maid outfits.

A tall blonde guy came up to Scarlett and kissed each of her cheeks. "Scarlett, my little cheeze puff! How are you today?" The guy asked her in a thick accent Gaara couldn't place. "Pierre! I'm good. Just been a little busy lately."

"Iz zat why you don't come see us. We've missed you so." He asked as Scarlett kissed his cheeks back. Pierre then looked over Gaara who stood silently by as the two exchanged hellos.

"I can zee why you decided to act buzy." He said and winked at Scarlett who turned a bright red. "Come, come, you favorite booth iz open and waiting." He said and strode off towards the back of the room before Scarlett or Gaara could protest anything.

Pierre sat them down at a corner booth whose window overlooked a small river with a bridge that crossed through town. It was actually very picturesque. "I will start you off with two of your usual order yes?" Pierre asked and Scarlett nodded sending Pierre off a small smile.

"Did you find anything in the tree?' Scarlett asked and Gaara shook his head before staring out the window. "It's a really good place to people watch." Scarlett said. Gaara glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes. Scarlett was staring down at her hands witch were fidgeting quite rapidly. "Well after school it is. There's a lot of people coming and going over the bridge."

Gaara turned and look at her straight on now she obviously wanted to talk, and Temari had always told him it was polite to act interested. Scarlett seemed nice enough; he should try and act decent towards her, so long as she didn't piss him off again. "What is this place?"

"It's a sweet shop. A pretty popular place too, mainly because the owner decided to dress his staff up as French maids. They serve excellent sweets too. They have a roll cake that makes your tongue have a happiness spasm."

What she meant by that Gaara had no idea but before he could ask Pierre showed back up with two mugs of something steamy with whip cream and sprinkles, along with two plates of circle things covered in caramel and chocolate sauce with whip cream and a cherry.

"Here you are. I will be back in a minute to zee how everything iz. Enjoy yez." He said before sweeping to a table near theirs where a waitress was being harassed.

"What is this?" Gaara asked staring down at the weird concoction that was placed in front of him. Scarlett was already drinking deep from the mug of whipped cream. "Hot chocolate and a donut sundae." She replied wiping a whip cream mustache off.

Gaara looked at his food like it was going to bite him and Scarlett couldn't help but laugh. "It's really good I promise. It's my favorite things on the menu." She said the popped the cherry off her donut in her mouth then cut a piece of her donut off with her fork. "Here try it." She said and held the fork out to him.

Gaara glared at the pastry wondering just how much he really would like this strange food. Scarlett expected Gaara to take the fork from her so when he took the bite straight off her fork she jumped a little and dropped the fork splattering whip cream everywhere as it landed on his donut. Gaara chewed thoughtfully not caring about the mess as Scarlett yelped and wiped whip cream out of her eye.

"Well aint that sweet." A tall brown haired guy with a lip ring said pulling a chair up to their table and flipping it around backwards so he could straddle it and use the back as an arm rest. He lit a cigarette before giving Sunny a devilish smile.

"So your brother came in this morning and made an order for a certain someone's favorite cake because she was sick. Then Pierre is telling me that certain someone is in my shop with a nice piece of arm candy. Now," He paused and took another drag of his cigarette before continuing. "Is this the kind of sick I should be worried about or are we playing hooky hookup?" Scarlett giggled and little Gaara glared at the new comer who had interrupted his donut eating.

"Hey Louie, this is Gaara and no you shouldn't be worried." Louie took a long drag as he looked Gaara up and down. Gaara glared back defiantly. Louie blew out a smoke ring and laughed.

"I like him. Name's Loopy Louie. If you don't know why I'm called Loopy don't worry about it. You've already met my brother and co-owner of the shop, Pierre. My fake French accented brother." He then pointed to a girl with short black hair who was working the cash register and also the only female employee not in a costume. "That pretty thing there is my wife Lou-Lou. We're pretty much just extended family to Letti here so if you're going to be around for a while you better get used to sweet things."

"You don't look like anyone it Scarlett's family." Gaara said remembering a picture he had seen in Scarlett's bedroom that Scarlett had said was a family photo. They didn't look like Scarlett, and they hadn't been in the picture, so how could they be family? Louie laughed and took the last drag of his cigarette.

"We're extended family. Means were not through blood or marriage but were close enough that we're considered family members. Heck if Letti doesn't consider us family by now she'd better start paying for all the hot chocolate we pour down her throat." Scarlett laughed and stuck her tongue out at Louie

"Never." She replied then took a large gulp out of her mug.

Louie laughed again before jerking his thumb in Gaara's direction and asking "So Henery know 'bout the arm candy?" "It's Gaara." Gaara said annoyed he didn't like being referred to as am candy.

"No. Please don't tell him. I don't want him to know just yet. I don't think he's ready to hear it yet." Louie sighed and ruffled his hair before answering "You know Henery will personally castrate me if he find out I let you be alone with a boy. Especially after what happened last time." "Ahh but I'm not alone with him. I brought him here where I would be safe." Scarlett replied. "Touché" Louis said with a grin.

"All right, I'll keep Mr. Arm candy Gaara here a secret for a little while. But you know how bad I am at keeping secrets." Louie gave her an even bigger grin before standing up and putting the chair back at the table he got it from.

"Thanks Louie." Scarlett called as he walked away.

"You owe me Letti." He called back.

"I'm not arm candy." Gaara said in a pouting voice before taking a bite out of his donut.

Scarlett was trying to drink her hot chocolate when he said that and almost had it shoot out of her nose.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimed Where Needed! **

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><p>Gaara was gone when Scarlett woke up the next morning.<p>

Gaara had started watching the first part of the Naruto episodes and Scarlett had gone to sleep watching him watch the TV like the stalker she was.

Now her window hung open her curtain blowing slightly in the wind, Gaara missing from the room. She got up and went over to the window. Tears welled up in her eyes as she shut it not seeing any sight of Gaara. The way the boarding house was built it would be easy for him to walk out on the roof till he reached the tree a couple of feet way. From there he could just swing down and be gone.

Scarlett had done it once but only because she was trying to hide from her brother because she had stolen the last cupcake. It was pretty easy and would only be easier for a ninja like Gaara. She went back over to her bed and plopped down letting her tears fall freely now. Of course he would leave her. She thought they were getting along and hoped that maybe Gaara didn't hate her so much anymore.

"Just wishful thinking." She whispered to her Gaara poster and pulled the covers over her head. Why would someone like Gaara want her around anyways she was worthless, and good for nothing. She wasn't even attractive enough for any guy to look at her twice.

Why would she even hope that Gaara would stick around to hang out with a pathetic person like her? She let herself fall into her pit of despair, letting herself fall so deeply that eventually tears weren't even enough to show how she felt and dried up. She lay there in a pool of her depression knowing how pathetic she was for being upset he was gone.

It's not like she meant anything to him, but she loved him heart and soul. She was truthfully obsessed with him. Just like the girls at her school who say they're going to marry a celebrity even though they never spent so much as an hour with them in their life.

Not that Scarlett ever claimed she was going to marry Gaara, he hadn't even been technically real till a few days ago. Still she had hoped that maybe she could get him to like her enough to be friends, she wasn't foolish enough to think he would automatically lover her. Then again Scarlett didn't have high hopes for love. Maybe she was just too scared, or maybe she would just rather be a stalker and stick to her unrequited love.

Either way she wasn't hoping for love from him, but she was hoping he would stick around. So much for that. Tap…tap, tap. Scarlett jerked up and saw Gaara glaring at her through her window. She quickly jumped up and rushed over to her window sliding up the pane of glass to let him in.

"Why did you shut the window?' He asked as he landed softly on the floor of Scarlett's room.

"I-I uh…I thought you were gone." Scarlett said sheepishly hoping that her little crying fit didn't show on her face.

"Where would I go?" He inquired crossing his arms and raising a faintly showing eyebrow.

"I don't know. You were gone when I woke up and since…since you didn't seem to be very fond of me, I thought you had…decided to leave." Scarlett stared at the ground as she said this fully aware of how stupid she sounded. Gaara just rolled his eyes.

"Unless you can think of a way to send me back home, which I highly doubt, I'm stuck here." "You wouldn't leave me for someone cooler?" Scarlett asked sounding just as every bit as pitiful as Gaara thought she was.

"If it pleases you to hear it, I have no desire to meet very many people from this universe. If they are all as strange as you and the people you acquaint yourself with, then I have enough to deal with knowing you." He answered and went over to the TV turning it on to continue watching his Naruto marathon.

Scarlett didn't have all the episodes but she had enough to keep Gaara occupied for a few days. Scarlett sat next to him, a decent amount of space between them, and watched for a few minutes trying to keep her burning question to herself. Finally it was too hot to keep in and she just had to ask it.

"So why did you leave?' Gaara glanced at her for a second showing his annoyance at her before staring back at the TV. "If you really must know then I left because the men you live with have a habit of checking in on you at night. Since you asked Louie to keep me a secret I gather that you don't want me to be discovered. I decided it would be less of a problem if I just left until they did." Scarlett nodded.

She was annoyed that her brother still had his friends check in on her but Henery was Henery and there was nothing much she could do about it. They sat there watching the battle between Naruto, Sasuke, and Haku. They were in the Zabuza saga still. A saga Scarlett got particularly annoyed with.

It had way too much filler, but then so did all the anime. She much preferred the manga, but sometimes it was just nice to watch the actual characters move in color.

"Okay well I'm going to go shower then." Gaara gave a slight nod indicating he heard but that details further than that weren't necessary. Scarlett grabbed her clothes and disappeared into her bathroom. Everyone else in the house except her and Chris had to share a bathroom.

Chris owned the house and Scarlett was the only female patron that actually lived here. Chris had thought it better if Scarlett didn't have to share a bathroom with a bunch of guys. Scarlett plugged her iPod into her speakers and kept it on low so she wouldn't disturb Gaara. Scarlett rarely showered without her music. It was a nice escape to have some good tunes pumping as the hot water helped loosen knots of stress.

_What Is Love?_ by _Haddaway_ started playing just as Scarlett stepped out of her shower and she couldn't help but give a small chuckle. Out of all the songs she had found looking through Gaara AMV's this was one of the ones that had always gone with him pretty well. It was also a pretty awesome song for something so old. She had instantly loved it and had gotten a weird looks from Henery.

Chris however was a huge oldies fan and he and she had often done impromptu dance sessions to the song on cleaning days. As Scarlett opened the door to her bathroom she was startled to see Gaara standing just outside of it with an intense look on his face.

"What were you listening to?" He asked with a glare daring her to not answer him. Scarlett gave a small laugh "Here let me show you." She said and took him over to her laptop. Gaara stood there letting the music soak in.

He obviously liked it and Scarlett couldn't help but smile as he intently listened to the song.

"What is love? Baby, don't hurt me. Don't hurt me no more." She sang along softly. "Where did you find that?" he demanded when it ended.

"On the internet. I downloaded mainly because I liked it. But it also reminded me of you." Scarlett said with a blush. Gaara stared at the screen some more reading the list of music Scarlett had on her iTunes. "Do you have another one?" he asked.

"Not by him but I do have another one that reminds me of you." Scarlett replied.

"Play it."

So Scarlett found the song and began playing it. "It doesn't match you exactly, but it's pretty close. As soon as I heard it I thought of you."

"Do you think of any other Naruto characters besides me?" he scoffed.

"As a matter of fact I do. There's one song that I think nails the love triangle between Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto quite well." Scarlett retorted a little offended.

Sure she was obsessed with Gaara but she did fan girl over the other characters too. Sometimes. "Just play it." He said.

"Fine." she said and jammed her finger down on the play button a little harder than necessary. _That's Okay _by _The Hush Sound _began playing.

Before the song could actually be heard however the was a loud clatering noise. The two turned to see a guy with long, multi- colored hair standing in the doorway. A large box with a splattered cake and some disk cases litered the floor.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" The guy yelled glaring at Gaara like he wanted to kill him.

"Uh…hi…Henery." Scarlett said nervously.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimed where needed! So yay! I got my base chracter introduced now we can hopefully get to the actioney parts. I also am going to go ahead and bump up the rating for (possible) future content. As always let me know if something isn't working for you.**

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><p>Gaara sat quietly on the sofa in the living room as Henery and Scarlett yelled at each other in the other room. He wasn't really trying to listen but it was kind of hard no to overhear what was being said.<p>

"What the hell are you doing with a boy in your room!"

"Don't jump to conclusions Henery we weren't going to do anything. He doesn't think about me like that!"

"Yeah, whatever Scarlett. A guy that age will tell you anything just to get you alone. Didn't learn anything when that asshole tried-"

"Damnit Henery don't you go there! Don't you fucking go there!"

Gaara could hear someone, probably Scarlett, start sobbing, and their voices lowered to barely a mumble.

"Yikes. They fighting?" A guy leaned over the sofa near Gaara as he stared at the door that Henery and Scarlett had disappeared through earlier. He had bright green hair with one strip that had a hot pink tip. A handcuff chain earring hung from his cartilage piercing. The guy scratched his goatee which was also bright green and a girl with hair the complete opposite of his put her head on the other side of Gaara.

"I bet it's about the newcomer." She said and tilted her head ever so slightly in Gaara's direction. "He is a cute one. Leave it to Letti to nab a hottie." She added.

"Yeah that would be a good reason for them to fight. Henery has always been way to OP when it's comes to Lettie." The guy replied then gave Gaara a grin. "Hi name is Scottie Boy." The girl black flipped of the couch and a landed sprawled out on the floor at Gaara's feet.

"My name is Belly." She said with a giggle.

"XYS." Scottie said as Belly stretched herself. "Huh." Belly said before giving another giggle when she realized her shirt had slipped down in an indecent direction. She wore a too small tube top that accented her rather large chest a little too much, but showed off her bright pink henna tattoos quite nicely.

Gaara couldn't help but notice that the tattoo trailed all the way up onto her boobs which earned him a sly grin from Belly who saw him watching. Gaara looked away as she adjusted herself trying to be polite.

"She's a nut. If she asks if you want a threesome just say no, no matter what she offers you to say yes." Scottie Boy said. Not bothered at all that his girl almost flashing a stranger.

"I wouldn't ask him that. I'll leave that to Letti, it's about time she learned how to anyways." Belly replied. Scottie shook his head.

"I need a beer. Want one?" he asked. Gaara declined.

"Boozer. It's not even noon yet." Belly said as she fiddled with a neon orange cellphone.

"Yeah but you drive me to drinking." Scottie Boy replied.

Belly giggled "It's only cause I love you so much."

"Yeah, yeah." Scottie Boy murmured as he left the room. Belly giggled and sat up putting her chin on the edge of the couch to stare at Gaara.

"So you and Letti huh? She's pretty huh? She won't admit it but she's got a hot little body. She hides it under all those stupid baggy clothes that she wears. But she has this trench coat that loves to hug those curves of hers. Whenever she wears it I want to do naughty things to her." Belly's smile never faltered as she spoke and Gaara had the sudden urge to scoot away from her, which confused him.

He had heard of girls who kissed other girls. Lesbians he believed they were called. Kankuro had often lamented on the hotness of it, though Gaara failed to see the appeal. It usually didn't bother him to listen to Kankuro mention it, so he wasn't sure why it bothered him now.

"Told you she's a nut." Scottie Boy said plopping down on the couch next to Gaara with a bottle full of amber liquid. Belly stuck her tongue out at him and Scottie Boy replied by sticking his tongue out at her and wiggling it in a snake like way. Belly giggled and waggled her eyebrows suggestively at him. Suddenly Belly's phone started playing a very high pitched screeching noise and Belly gave a great sigh of annoyance before standing up and answering it.

"Hi mom." Gaara heard her say as she left the room.

"Sorry if she freaked you out a little by talking about Letti like that. She's bi and has a huge crush on Letti. She often tries to get her to threesome with us but me and Letti both refuse." Scottie Boy said and took a drink of his beer.

"Who are you to Scarlett?" Gaara finally asked. He was actually curious to see if they were related to Scarlett too. If they were it would explain why Gaara found Scarlett so strange. Genetics could explain a whole lot.

"It speaks." Scottie said in mock horror laughing at his own joke. Seeing that Gaara didn't smile cleared his throat sheepishly. "Were really good friends of her and Henery. I'm the basest in the band and Belly is my girlfriend who sometimes sings. We, well I live here, Belly just loafs around. She has her own place somewhere where she can practice her dancing. Like most of the band who you will meet soon, we often just use this place as out hideout."

"Dancing?" Gaara asked kind of intrigued. Women in his world usually aspired to become kunoichi, dancers were quite rare.

"Yeah she's a wicked belly dancer. It's why we call her Belly." Scottie said with a dreamy smile, no doubt thinking of Belly dancing for him. A new guy Gaara had yet to meet entered the room and stared at the two who were now sitting on his couch.

"Scott, it's 11:49 in the morning. Why the hell are you drinking my beer?" He stood with his arms crossed giving the green haired boozer an annoyed look. He was a large guy, thick, not in a fat way, but in a way that said he didn't come from a family of stick people. His hair was a blue black with purple streaks and he had multiple piercings on his face, mainly around his lips. His eyes however were a bright green that matched Scottie Boy's hair.

"Drinking it. What does it look like?" Scottie Boy retorted and took another sip. The big guy rolled his eyes before yawning. He was still dressed in his pajamas and looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep.

"Late night?" Scottie Boy asked as the chubby guy plopped down on the other side of Gaara. Gaara couldn't help but feel a little awkward sitting between these two strange guys but he didn't want to call unnecessary attention to himself by moving. Instead he just tried to sink farther back into the couch and make himself smaller.

"Late night there Chris?" Scottie Boy repeated. Chris jerked his head a little snapping out of his haze. Then sighed and nodded to answer Scotties question.

"Was sleeping good till the sibling duet went of key. What are they fighting about?"

"Him." Scottie replied pointing at Gaara.

"A boy huh?" Chris said looking him over.

"Yeah isn't he cute?" Belly said bounding in suddenly. She wrapped her arms around Scottie's neck in a backwards hug. Scottie pretended to make chocking noises to which Belly just giggled and squeezed harder.

"Quit treating me like I'm a fucking child!" Scarlett's voice suddenly yelled.

"Quit fucking acting like one!" Henery yelled back before their voices lowered back to a dull roar.

The group in the living room sat in silence waiting to see if things were going to get heated again.

"What exactly did you do?" Scottie asked the red head next to him.

"From what I can tell Henery caught them up in her room alone together. But that's just what the yelling has said." Chris said shaking his head slightly.

"Oooo. Were you naked?" Belly asked with a serious face.

"If he had found them naked I don't think he would be sitting here with us." Chris replied for Gaara.

Gaara just sat quietly. He was actually starting to be entertained by these strange people.

"Yeah Henery is way to overprotective of Scarlett. He won't even let me be alone in the same room with her. Hell he barley let's Chris be alone in the same room with her, and they ran around in diapers together." Scottie said draining the last of his beer.

"Yeah I noticed. Why is that?" Belly said and asked at Chris.

Chris sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose where an exhaustion headache was starting to form. "It has to do with a lot of stuff that happened when Letti was little. It's not something I can really talk about either. You'll have to ask Henery. If he says it's cool then he can tell you."

"Why don't you just ask Scarlett?" Gaara interrupted making the three look at him like a squirrel had crawled out of his nose. Chris stared at the ground; Gaara could tell his question had hit a sore spot.

"Scarlett…doesn't remember a lot of what happened back then. She, she represses traumatic memories. It's a medical condition she developed, if something traumatic enough happens, her brain just shuts down and goes into a kind of back tracking mode. She can remember what happened before but then everything goes blank." The room sat in silence, letting the knowledge sink in.

Gaara was finding himself actually interested to learn more. He wondered what exactly she had gone through. He was also shocked that he was sort of jealous that she could just forget the bad things so easily. How many times had Gaara wished he could just forget? Clear his brain and forget about his parents, his uncle, everything that caused him pain…just everything.

"You're not my mother so just leave me alone!" Scarlett yelled opening the door to the room they had been having thier fight in. She then proceeded to run up the stairs without so much as a look towards Gaara. Henery emerged from the room and called up the stairs at Scarlett's retreating back.

"I may not be your mother but I can certainly send you home to Farther and Lina! Is that what you want?" Scarlett's reply was to slam her door so loud Gaara could faintly feel the vibrations through the couch. The silence in the room was deafening.

"You okay bro?" Chris asked standing up and walking over to Henery. He placed a hand lightly on his shoulder and Henery deflated.

"I hate doing this. If it wasn't for that stupid memory thing she wouldn't be so angry. She'd know why I was so worried and she'd understand." Henery looked like he wanted to cry.

"Hey cheer up Hen. She's just doing that teenage rebellion thing that's so popular now a day. She'll get over it." Belly said cheerfully and Scottie Boy said a quick"Yeah" in agreement.

Henery gave them a small smile which quickly sputtered out when he saw Gaara.

"Hey look I'm sorry for the way I acted. I'm sure you're a great guy I just don't know you or trust you enough to be alone with my sister. I don't even know your name."

Gaara felt like telling him that he had been alone with his sister for the past forty-eight hours at least and had yet to even have the urge to touch her. Instead he just said "It's Gaara."

"Gaara? Like that guy off the TV show Scarlett is always watching?" Chris asked and Gaara shrugged in response. Chris stepped closer and gave Gaara a thorough look over. "I thought you looked familiar. Are you a cos-player? Is that how you and Letti met?" Gaara just shrugged again. He wasn't sure what Scarlett had told her brother and he didn't want to mess anything up.

"Doesn't matter how they met because we're all fixing to lose her." Scottie said pointing to the window.

"What are you talk-" Henery started to say but immediately stopped himself and started trying to jerk open the window. Gaara watched as Scarlett dropped herself out of the tree that Gaara had climbed up and down this morning. She flipped her brother off and took off running just as Henery got the window slid up.

"Scarlett Joanna Hindricks! You get your little butt back here now!" Gaara heard her faint reply of "Fuck you!" and tried not to smile as Henery fell flat on his face trying to climb out the window.

He didn't miss a beat though and was soon up and running after Scarlett.

"I don't like it when they fight." Belly said breaking the silence and the whole room, even Gaara, agreed that it was pretty awkward for everyone.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Sorry it's taken so long to get this up. Winter is coming, iv'e been feeling the need to hibernate. Anyhow, enjoy.**_

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><p>Scarlett plopped down in front of a tree breathless.<p>

She had spent the entire day running from her brother who she had severely pissed off. She finally lost him and went to the one place she was sure her brother would never look for her. Now she sat in the park where she had found Gaara and thinking of him realized that she had done something more stupid then pissing her brother off.

She had left Gaara at the mercy of her room mates.

Her crazy, crazy roommates who were bound to weird him out.

She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her forehead on them with a sigh. Everything was going so right before, now it was all going to hell.

Henery would for sure kick Gaara out and tell their parents what was going on. Scarlett would be forced back home and put under lock and key with no hope of escape. Tears burned in her eyes and Scarlett tried to hold them back.

"Well, well. Look what I found." A deep voice said breaking up Scarlett's pity party.

Scarlett tensed and froze, she knew that voice.

She slowly lifted her head up and there He stood smiling maliciously down at her.

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><p>Gaara stayed in the living room most of the day. Chris had insisted that it was best he didn't get caught in Letti's room again, and Gaara agreed.<p>

He had allowed Gaara to get some books out and Gaara spent the afternoon reading while Chris slipped in and out of consciousness.

Belly and Scottie had left and it had been a peaceful afternoon, Gaara was actually kind of enjoying it.

Then the phone call came.

Gaara was engrossed in a particularly good part of the book he had borrowed from Scarlett when a loud noise erupted from somewhere around Chris. The noise stopped and started several times before Chris jerked awake and pulled out his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Lo." He said sleepily. Gaara could hear a faint buzz from the person on the other line. "Wait. Okay. Hold on a second. What do you mean you can't find her?" There was a reply from the other side and Gaara could tell from the look on Chris's face something was wrong.

He shut the book and listened closely. He could faintly recognize that it was Henery on the other line, which could only mean that something was wrong with Scarlett.

"All right I'll call the others. We'll get a search party going. Just calm down and get Louie and them. We'll find her okay." Chris hung up the phone and instantly started dialing another number.

"What's going on." Gaara asked. Chris looked at him absently as he out the phone to his ear. "Henery can't find Letti and it's getting dark. Not a good sign when it involves Letti. Probably never will be." Gaara stood up as the person Chris had been calling answered. "Where are you going?" He called after Gaara's retreating back.

"To find her." He replied.

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><p>He didn't think about it till he was already there.<p>

Something was pulling Gaara to the park where Scarlett claimed to have found him. Something told him he needed to be there. So that's where he went. The places in between the trees were dark and silent. He stood there for a moment listening. He could hear voices somewhere in the maze of trees and Gaara headed towards the sound. When he located the spot he did indeed find Scarlett. He also found a kid close to his age who had Scarlett pinned against a tree.

He watched as Scarlett kicked him in the shin and tried to run. The guy grabbed the tangled mess a Scarlett's hair and yanked her back to him. Scarlett fell to her knees and Gaara could see the tears in her eyes. He also noticed her lip was busted and one of her eyes was slightly swollen.

"You're not going anywhere. We have some unfinished business."

"Leave me alone." Scarlett cried and the guy kicked her in the stomach.

"Shut up bitch. I don't like my whores to talk." Chris had been right. Scarlett alone at night was not a good thing. The guy raised his hand to hit Scarlett again and Gaara stepped forward. He wasn't about to stand by and let someone as helpless and Scarlett get beat to a pulp.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you." Gaara said emerging from the cover of the trees. The guy spun around and glared at Gaara.

"If I was you I would just walk away." He said trying to look menacing. Gaara repressed the urge to roll his eyes. This guy was stupis if he thought he could take him on. Gaara took a step towards him glaring him down. "You should let her go."

"And what if I don't?" Gaara had to kind of smirk at that question. He may not have his sand anymore but he certainly still had all the skills he had possessed otherwise. Gaara moved so fast that to the guy standing in front of him it looked like he had teleported. The guy gasped and let go of Scarlett's hair to pull out a knife.

Scarlett scooted away against the tree and just stared into the scen unfurling before her.

The guy took a stab at Gaara but Gaara deflected it and the knife was flung to the ground. The guy was desperate and started swinging punches at Gaara. Gaara dodged easily and caught the guys hand mid-punch.

"Now. You're going to promise that you'll leave her alone." The guy sneered

"And why the hell would I do that?" Gaara gave the guy a wicked grin and applied pressure to the guys fingers.

Scarlett winced as she heard the solid popping sound of the guy's finger breaking. The guy screamed in pain. Gaara broke another finger and smiled even more evilly at the guy. He screamed even louder in pain and fell to the ground. Gaara refused to let the guys hand though. "You should make that promise now." He added as he broke another finger.

"Okay, okay, I promise." The guys said tears of pain rolled down his cheeks and Gaara couldn't help but think about how pathetic this guy was. Gaara had broken Kankuro's fingers before and Kankuro hadn't even shed a tear. Temari had been majorly pissed though.

"Promise what?" Gaara asked and broke his last finger. "I'll never bother her again I swear!" the guy screamed in agony.

"Good." Gaara stated and released the guy's hand.

He curled up in a ball and cradled his poor deformed hand. Gaara ignored him and went over to Scarlett. He held out his hand, but Scarlett just sat there staring. "Scarlett! Get up!" Gaara demanded. Scarlett's head snapped in his direction and her eyes focused on the hand he was offering. Scarlett took it, her own hand shaking noticeably. He noticed a fear in her eyes that he had never seen before.

The only thing that kept him from taking it offensively was that he didn't know if it was directed at him or the pathetic thing crying on the ground behind them. He shrugged it off for now, it wasn't important. He pulled Scarlett along with him without so much as a backwards glance and soon there were coming into view of Scarlett's house.

A group of people stood outside. Scarlett recognized Henery as he detached himself from the group and came running towards them. He was almost to them as Scarlett and Gaara passed under a street light.

Henery's goofy grin of relief quickly sunk down into a look of pure anger when he saw Scarlett's face. He turned his gaze to Gaara and picked up speed.

"What the fuck did you do to my sister!"


	8. Chapter 8

_**Sorry. Wirters block is hard to get through. Enjoy, and also please review.**_

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><p>In the end it hadn't been easy to pry Henery and Gaara apart.<p>

Henery was furious making it difficult for him to think clearly. Gaara hadn't meant to let a fight actually break out between them, but Gaara was never good at letting stuff just roll off his shoulders. His bloodlust didn't allow it.

They were eventually pried apart thanks to Chris and Scott. Belly had disappeared in the house with Scarlett while the boys fought it out.

Currently Gaara and Henery sat on the couch in a stony silence while Belly and Chris, who was a nurse, were upstairs looking over Scarlett. Belly eventually came down followed soon after by Chris.

"She's alright. Shook up and bruised but she'll be fine. It nothing like what he did last time." Chris said sinking down into a chair.

"Thanks." Henery said to Chris.

Chris smiled a little before heaving a sigh. "She needs rest, but she's requested that she talks to Gaara, alone, before I give her any pain pills." Henery opened his mouth to protest but Chris held up his hand to silence him. "Seeing as how Gaara had every opportunity tonight to take advantage of Scarlett while she was alone, I doubt now that she's surrounded by people he'll do anything differently. Just let them talk."

Henery crossed his arms and pouted "Fine, but ten minutes and I'm checking on you."

Gaara rolled his eyes as he stood up, like he was worried about it.

"She should be dressed by now, but knock first, just in case." Chris said. Gaara nodded and made his way up to Scarlett's room. He knocked when he reached her door. After a pause he heard a faint 'come in.' He opened the door just as Scarlett was pulling her shirt down. She was sitting at her computer desk with her back to him and Gaara caught glimpse of a long scar down her left side.

"Sorry. Chris said he bruised my ribs. It's hard to move." She said quietly.

"How'd you get the scar." Was all Gaara asked. He was curious to see if it was something she had blocked out or not. Scarlett was silent for a moment; finally she took a deep breath.

"Henery and I used to have this cousin. He was…unstable, is the best way to put it. He was fine as long as he took his meds, but there were times when he wouldn't, and things could get bad. This was one of those times. The three of us were hanging out one afternoon, I think I was seven then. We were waiting on Chris so we could go bike riding. Our parents had stepped out and Hal, our cousin, I don't remember why, but he got angry and pulled a knife. He started after Henery and I remember saying something…"

Scarlett put her head in her hands like her head was starting to hurt.

"After that all I can remember is my side burning and things going black. I remember drifting in and out but I didn't know where I was or what was going on. Henery says he pulled Hal off me and started fighting with him. Chris thankfully, showed up about the time Hal stabbed Henery in the leg. The two of them managed to overpower Hal and wrestle him to ground. They knocked him out and Chris called 911. The next thing that I can clearly remember was waking up in the hospital with a doctor telling me I was lucky the blade hadn't reached any of my organs."

"You really can't remember anything other than that?" Gaara asked. Scarlett shook her head and turned to face him.

"Why?"

Scarlett shrugged. "I went to a therapist once. He told me I saw something really tragic when I was little. Due to that my psyche can't handle bad memories. Sometimes if I think really hard I can remember little things but it hurts to do that."

Gaara nodded and the two were silent for a little bit, lost in their own thoughts.

"Thank you, for saving me, by the way." Scarlett broke the silence finally.

"Who was he?" was Gaara's reply. He noted the blush on Scarlett cheeks before she gave her answer.

"I dated him once. I was a freshman and he was nice looking. He used to be nice too; at least until I wouldn't give him what he wanted. It turned out the only reason he wanted anything to do with me was he thought I was desperate and therefore easy. When he found out I wasn't he got real angry. But that's one of those things I can't remember. I can remember him hitting me the first time, but then it's all blank until I wake up in my bed with Henery and Chris standing over me. They're not sure what happened either. They said they were sitting there on the couch watching a movie when the banging on the front door starts. When they opened the door Chis said I just fell over. They took me up to my room and Chris doctored me the best they could. The next day they took me a doctor, the tests were negative but they're both convinced he tried to rape me. They would sue but without any proof all they can do is try and keep him away from me."

Scarlett stared at the ground and the room was silent again. Gaara couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy, her life had been almost as unlucky as his had been. Not quite as tragic, his childhood had been was more depressing and horrible. But, he could realte.

Henery took this opportunity to stick his head in the was jerked out almost as suddenly as he had popped in my Belly who could be heard reprimanding him as she dragged him down the hall.

Scarlett laughed a little before she winced and held her side.

"Do you remember what he tried to do to you tonight?" Gaara said breaking the silence this time.

Scarlett shook her head."I remember he was there, I tried to run, and then there was you standing in front of me. That's it." She replied.

So that's why she had been so lifeless. Her mind hadn't been in focus with the events around her.

"This isn't what I wanted to talk to you about though." Scarlett continued. "I wanted, well wanted to tell you that if you wanted to go I wouldn't stop you. I…I don't want to cause you more trouble…" Scarlett trailed off and Gaara almost felt like laughing. Almost.

"If I wanted to leave I would have left. You wouldn't have been able to stop be if you tried. And as I told you before I have no place else to go, I stay because your convenient. As long as it stays that way you're in no danger of me disappearing." He said and Scarlett looked like she wanted to cry, she quickly looked way from Gaara and hid her face.

"I'll do my best not to cause you anymore trouble then." She said her voice catching. Gaara rolled his eyes. Women were such crybabies. He wasn't even trying to be mean and she was crying.

What Gaara didn't know was Scarlett was crying because she was relieved that Gaara was going to stay. She hated to think of him leaving, after all she loved him, and he had saved her. Maybe somehow she could make Gaara care for her. Love may not be an option but if she could make Gaara her friend she would be happy.

It's funny how they think just being friends will be enough.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Going to be kind of busy for a little while. I'll update as fast as I can, maybe a little encouragement will help me move a little faster huh? *wink,wink* Disclaimed where needed. Enjoy!**_

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><p>Over the next few weeks Scarlett was relieved to find that hiding Gaara from Henery was easier than she thought it would be.<p>

Gaara would hide out in Scarlett's room while she was in school or at work. When Scarlett came home, Gaara made himself known to the others in the house so Henery wouldn't freak. Later when it got late Gaara made a show of leaving and would sneak back in through the window in Scarlett's room when everyone was asleep.

Sometimes Gaara would stay out all night exploring the town as he pleased. Other times Scarlett would wake up to find Gaara spaced out watching another Naruto episode, or staring into one of the manga. Scarlett had long since taken and hidden the episodes and books Gaara hadn't experienced yet.

They had discussed it one day and Gaara had flat out said he didn't want to know his, or anyone else's future. It took an afternoon of brainstorming but Scarlett finally thought up a way to figure out where Gaara was in his world without giving anything away.

But that was weeks ago and Gaara was running out of stuff to do while Scarlett was gone.

He was becoming restless and watching reruns was boring him. He finished the Naruto manga and started going through some other books and manga Scarlett had, but that was losing its interest as well. He started going outside more but it was starting to get cold, and Gaara was not used to the cold. He was reading through a manga one afternoon, not really paying any attention to it when an idea struck him.

With a quick look at the clock he pulled on the jacket that Scarlett had got for him and was up and out the window in less than a minute.

Finding Scarlett's high school was easy. She had pointed it out once to him when they had gone by on their way to dinner with her Henery and his band. Gaara also passed it a lot when he was out walking around. Besides it was a huge building in the middle of the city, not very easy to miss. He arrived just as a shrill ringing noise erupted from inside and kids began pouring out of any and every door.

Gaara stationed himself in the place he felt was most likely for Scarlett to come by and waited. It didn't take long for a group of flirty girls to notice him standing there. And of course thinking he was hot, they didn't have a choice but to go over and say hi.

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><p>Scarlett was rushing through the hallways trying to get out of the building as fast as she could. She finally had an afternoon off from work, and she wanted to get home to Gaara as soon as she could. She was practically running as she excited the building and nearly tripped when she saw Gaara standing a little ways off to the side surrounded by a group of girls.<p>

Not just any girls either, it was a group of the most popular ones. Who were considered pretty, and hot, and desirable, everything that Scarlett was not. Scarlett drooped her head a little swallowed back the tears stinging in her eyes.

She had expected Gaara to get bored but she didn't think he would get bored enough to go looking for a more interesting person to be with. She might as well go home and curl up in bed, maybe he would at least come by to get his stuff later.

Scarlett was halfway across the school grounds when she heard someone calling her name. She turned he head in that direction to see Gaara glaring at her from among the people surrounding him. The girls were giving her dirty looks as well. Scarlett sighed; she might as well see what they wanted. She dragged herself back over to them and forced a smile.

"Hey Gaara what are you doing here?"

"What do you care?" the girl nearest to him said with a sneer. Scarlett knew her as the girl that dated her ex, and she hadn't been happy to learn Scarlett had been his girlfriend first. She often teased Scarlett and picked on her because of it. The two had broken up in less than a week but the girl still felt it was necessary to bother her.

Scarlett expected Gaara to say something mean and glare at her too but instead he just blinked, and then said "I was waiting for you, what do you think?"

He stepped out from the midst of flirts surrounding him and grabbed Scarlett's arm. "Come on." He added leading her away.

Scarlett was as dumbfounded as the girls Gaara had just snubbed but she followed happily waiting for Gaara to explain what he wanted. Meanwhile she tried not to let her giddiness make her act stupid. It was hard though, Gaara had actually sought Scarlett out and wanted to go somewhere with her, how could she not be happy?

They walked for a while Gaara wasn't talking and Scarlett was strating to think he was angry about something. She kept her mouth shut and just enjoyed looking at the Halloween decorations. "What's with all the pumpkins?" Gaara finally asked. Scarlett smiled and tried not to laugh.

Of course she couldn't expect Gaara to know what Halloween was. He was from a different world and despite what fan art and fan fictions portrayed they probably didn't have holidays like Scarlett's world did.

"They're called jack-o-lanterns. People carve them in celebration of Halloween." she explained.

"What's Halloween?"

"Halloween is…basically people dress up as all kinds of things for different reasons. Mainly for free candy, but some use it as an excuse to scare the crap out of little kids, or dress like a skank."

Gaara gave a raised eyebrow look when Scarlett said skank and she couldn't help but have a small blush run across her cheeks.

"When Halloween comes on Friday you'll see what I mean." She said pretneding to find a jack-o-latern very interesting.

"Will I have to dress up?" Gaara inquired.

Try as she might, Scarlett could not resist the image of Gaara dressed as a raccoon from entering her mind. She tried to hold back her laughter again but it came out as a snort earning her a glare from Gaara.

"Sorry I just, uh, got a joke I heard earlier." Scarlett said with a nervous giggle. Gaara continued to give her the evil eye. Scarlett cleared her throat and continued. "You don't have to dress up. It's not an actual requirement so if you want you can, but you don't have to."

Gaara nodded his understanding and quit shooting eye daggers at her. "Will you?"

Scarlett shrugged.

"My brother's band has a Halloween concert every year, and to get in you have to be in costume. Since my brother requires that I attend, I more than likely will. I'm not sure what I'll be though. Belly is convinced I'll make an adorable southern bell, but Chris thinks I'd make a better alien."

Gaara didn't even feel like asking what either one of those were. So he just walked in silence letting Scarlett ramble on contemplating whether or not he wanted to participate in this Halloween affair. He was enjoying the companionship, Gaara liked his solitude but this afternoon he realized he was missing the presence of another human. Usually all day long he was constantly bombarded with one thing after another, and hardly had any time for himself.

Being the Kazekage was a busy and stressful job. The only reason he got any alone time at all was because he didn't sleep at night. Even then with all the work he had to do he only got a few hours to actually relax. He had his fill of relaxing these past few weeks and he wanted more to do and someone to talk to. Even recluses felt the need to socialize every so often.

"What should I be?" Gaara asked cutting Scarlett off mid-sentence.

"W-what?" Scarlett said surprised. Gaara rolled his eyes. "What should I dress up as?"

"Oh." Scarlett breathed before getting a huge grin on her face.

"I have the perfect thing."


	10. Chapter 10

_**Okay I finally got this written. I've spent days on this and i'm still not happy with it. Oh well, at least you guys can tell me what's wrong with it. Enjoy!**_

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><p>Gaara shot down the raccoon idea.<p>

No amount of pleading would make him change his mind. Gaara refused to be cute and cuddly for anything. He wanted to be feared and respected, that's what he was used to and that's what he would get. So Scarlett went to Belly and had her find something for him. Belly loved picking out costumes for people and she was just as pleased to pick out Gaara's as she was to help Scarlett find hers.

Tonight was Halloween and Scarlett was currently in her room staring into the mirror. Belly had insisted that Scarlett go as the Angel of Death. A regular angel just wouldn't work it was Halloween it had to be dark, so here Scarlett stood in a long flowing black dress, of lace and silk that Belly had all but bullied Scarlett into wearing.

She had also made Scarlett wear fishnet stocking and knee high boots to finish of the look. Belly was completely thorough when it came to putting together costumes and had made Scarlett sit still so she could apply Scarlett's make-up. The effect was mesmerizing to Scarlett she actually though looked pretty, a little to dressed up in her book, but Belly had argued she would be perfect as long as she wore the wings.

Scarlett was not fond of the wings. They weren't huge or anything, or even heavy. They were just uncomfortable and awkward to wear. She didn't have a choice though it was Halloween and she had enlisted Belly's help, this was the price. Scarlett heard the sound of metal jingling and turned to see Belly standing in her doorway with a camera.

Belly was dressed up as an Arabian princess and had tons of shiny pieces on her outfit that rattled and gleamed whenever she took a step. Belly held up the camera with a grin, the flash went off making Scarlett squeal.

"Belly! Don't take my picture!"

Belly laughed evilly. "How else was I going to get you on camera?"

"You could have asked." Scarlett said finally pouting, she hated cameras.

"So you could complain? No thanks." Belly came in the room to circle Scarlett and inspect her outfit.

"Perfect. I told you that you would make a sexy beast." Scarlett rolled her eyes but smiled.

"Anyways I know you are just dying to see Gaara, so come on he's ready." Belly grabbed Scarlett's arm and started leading her to the living room where Gaara waited. Scarlett repressed the yay that threatened to escape. She also tried not to bounce but it was hard, she was excited.

Gaara and Belly had refused to tell Scarlett what Gaara was going to be, just as Scarlett was forbidden to tell Gaara what she was going to be. The suspense was slowly killing her.

Gaara stood in the living room staring in to a portable mirror Belly had handed him when she was done applying the finishing touches to his costumes. Belly had taken her time and had carefully applied costume makeup to make Gaara's, "natural eyeliner" as she called it, darker and more defined. It made his eyes stand out and Belly swore it made him look creepy.

She then attached two little devil horns to his head, top that off with a red t-shirt, leather jacket, and black pants and he was a devil. At least that's what Belly told him. Gaara thought he looked pretty cool, and was pleased that he had decided to dress up, it was kind of fun. He put the mirror down and looked up in time to see Belly coming down the stairs followed closely by Scarlett.

He had to do a double take when he saw Scarlett; she didn't look like the same person. The air of insecurity still hung off her, but somehow she looked older, more like a women. It took Gaara a minute to realize that Belly had done her make-up too.

Still there was something about the way her eyes now had a smoldering effect, and there was something to be said about the way the dark red against pale skin made her heart shaped lips stand out.

Gaara blinked a looked away not wanting to seem like he was staring. Belly had noticed his reaction though and was pleased to see her plan coming together. "So what do you think?" Belly asked nudging Scarlett.

"Fine" Scarlett said then bit her lip when she realized what she had said. Belly laughed and Gaara just stood there, not getting it.

"I mean you look…you make a good devil." Scarlett explained awkwardly with her face burning.

"Thank you." Gaara replied. Belly rolled her eyes.

"So you guys get it?" Belly asked excitedly.

"Get what?" Scarlett asked.

Belly gave an annoyed sighed. "Your costumes. They're a couple's costume! The Devil and the Angel of Death." She explained making Scarlett's cheeks go red again.

"B-but we're not couple." Scarlett stuttered.

"No but a couple doesn't just mean lovers. It can mean friends too. And you guys are like best friends." Belly explained. The two stayed quiet to Belly's great annoyance. "Come on we're going to be late for that concert." She said giving up.

There was no point in trying to get the two to get lovey at this moment Belly realized. She would just let them have to do their own thing. At least she had gotten Gaara to do a double take of Scarlett, and make Scarlett blush. She had confirmed her suspicions of a crush and that was good enough for now.

As they headed to the car Gaara and Scarlett were both tangled up in the questions running through their heads. Belly had brought up a topic that the two hadn't discussed or thought of.

We're they friends?

Scarlett would certainly like to think of Gaara as a friend. A _boy_friend would make her happier, but just a friend would be nice. The only problem was that she wasn't sure Gaara thought of her as a friend, and it complicated what Scarlett should call their relationship without fear of Gaara contradicting her.

Gaara on the other hand was positive that Scarlett considered him a friend. His problem was that somehow, during the time he had spent with Scarlett he had started thinking of her as a friend and hadn't realized it. He wasn't sure how and he wasn't sure when but when Belly mentioned it, he realized that she was one.

Maybe not a best friend but Scarlett had found a way to lodge herself into a crack in his brain, and there she was. He cared for her, and that bothered him.

Needless to say the ride to the concert was quiet and when they arrived Belly was glad to fine her ears had died from disuse.

"C'mon you two were here to party liven up!" Belly said brightly as they entered the crowded warehouse.

The place was packed and Scarlett was finding it hard to maneuver without hitting people with her wings.

"Can I take theses off please?" She asked Belly who she thought was standing next to her. She turned to repeat her question only to find Belly was gone leaving her alone with Gaara.

Gaara gave a shrug. "They look unnecessary. If you want you should." Scarlett blushed embarrassed. She made her way over to a clear spot by the wall and shrugged herself out of the annoying things. Gaara followed and watched his surrounding quietly while Scarlett adjusted herself.

"What do I…what do people do at concerts." He asked unsurely. Scarlett tossed the wings on the ground fully intending to leave them there and pretend they got stolen.

"What?" Scarlett asked. More people were showing up and it was getting hard to hear. Gaara leaned in close much to Scarlett's surprise and repeated his question. Having Gaara so close made Scarlett's brain go blank and he had to repeat his question a third time, which made him more than a little annoyed.

"Oh, uh, well it, uh, my brother is going to go up on that stage and play music with his band. We're going to listen to it and cheer him on." Scarlett finally managed to get out. Gaara nodded understanding.

The point of everything was still beyond him but he supposed supporting someone you loved was a good thing.

"Okay, I'm going to move closer so stay close or we'll end up getting separated." Scarlett said and started to lead the way through the crowd. Gaara grabbed her hand and followed without a protest. Scarlett's heartbeat sped up significantly, and her mind went almost completly blank. He was holding her hand.

Gaara, the guy she had loved forever, was holding her hand.

She felt like she could faint.

It was hard but Scarlett kept her cool as they weaved through the crowd. Gaara held onto Scarlett's hand firmly and followed silently. He felt Scarlet's pulse speed up, and smirked to himself. He liked the way Scarlett acted around him, he wasn't sure why but seeing her blush or giggle or even just smile at the little things he did gave him a good feeling.

Not a warm fuzzy kind of thing, it just made him feel good.

Scarlett finally made it to a small clearing in the crowd and stopped there. Gaara continued holding her hand, and Scarlett used all of her self control trying to keep her cool. Gaara wasn't dumb he knew how easy it would be to lose sight of her in a gathering like this, even standing right next to her, and it was night time. He didn't want to have to pull her out of another situation where Scarlett got hurt and Henery blames him.

His lip had taken a while to heal and Gaara didn't like getting hit. So they stood there quietly, Scarlett near hyperventilating, and Gaara wondering when the concert was going to start.

Having Gaara touch her for so long was really starting to drive Scarlett nuts. It wasn't that Scarlett didn't like holding his hand, it was nice. It was calloused but had a sort of softness to it at the same time. The crowd was pushing them together as well, and she was finding the way he smelled intoxicating. All this plus the slight warmth that radiated off him was giving her goose bumps and thoroughly confusing her.

Gaara only tolerated her because she was convenient for him; those had been his exact words to her numerous times. Now he stood here holding her hand being pushed against her like they were sardines in a tin can, and he didn't even looked annoyed. Still confused or not, she couldn't help but imagine that here in this moment, just for a minute, that Gaara was hers.

As delusional as that was, under the circumstances it as easy to do, and Scarlett felt so happy that she could almost burst from it. Gaara glanced over at Scarlett and noticed the adoring way she was looking at him. It made him feel weird and he was about to tell her to stop it, but a chant started from somewhere and cut him off. What they were yelling was lost in the noise but a couple of chords from a guitar started and Gaara could feel that atmosphere surge with energy.

He looked up at the stage to see the makeshift curtain be pulled aside, Henery and his band stood on stage. Henery sat at the drums, Scottie Boy was on base and Chris stood in the lead guitarist place. A blonde guy with purple bangs stood in front of the microphone and yelled a hello at the crowd.

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><p>Gaara decided that he liked concerts. The air was charged with energy and the music was loud and almost angry, he could relate and he liked it. Scarlett decided that Halloween was now her new favorite holiday.<p>

After the concert Belly found them and invited them to hang out with the band in what they had designated the backstage area. She noted happily that Gaara was holding Scarlett's hand and chuckled quietly to herself. However once they had entered the less crowded area Gaara let go and Scarlett felt exposed without him next to her. Still they went and hung out with her brother and his friends and Scarlett laughed, joked around, and eventually adjusted to the empty feeling.

They were having a good time too, even Gaara let himself smirk a couple of times. It went on late into the night ending in a debate about how everyone was going to get home. Shawn, the lead singer, and Belly were the only ones sober enough to drive besides Gaara and Scarlett, but Scarlett only had a learners permit and Shawn drove a two-seater sports car.

That left Shawn being able to take his groupie, with Belly having to take everyone else home in her Explorer. But that would only work out if Gaara and Scarlett walked. That caused Henery and half the room to get in a huge argument but in the end Henery was too drunk to put up much of a fight.

So Scarlett and Gaara took off walking leaving the "adults" to figure seating arrangements out.

The night was quiet and a little chilly. Scarlett kicked herself for not thinking about wearing a jacket, then again she hadn't expected to have to be walking home. Gaara noticed her shivering and shrugged off his jacket.

"Here" he said holding it out to her.

"Won't you get cold?" Scarlett asked, Gaara just shrugged, not wanting to annoy him by protesting Scarlett put on the coat. They fell in to a scattered but relaxed conversation as they walked enjoying the peacefulness of the night, talking of nothing and everything.

Gaara hadn't realized till now how easy it had become to talk to Scarlett. He spent the first half of his life glaring at people and in just a few weeks the simple girl had gotten Gaara open up, when it had taken Temari his own sister years to even get Gaara to do more than growl at her.

He didn't know what but there was something about Scarlett that made Gaara put his guard down.

"Why?" he said without thinking.

"Why what?" Scarlett asked. Gaara hadn't meant to say that out loud and had to think of something to ask quickly. All he could think to ask was "Why me?" He saw a blush rise in Scarlett's cheeks as she asked what he meant. What he really wanted to ask was why did she make him feel so comfortable, but he couldn't let her know that, instead he asked why he was her favorite character.

Scarlett let out a sigh and was quiet for a moment. It was kind of hard to explain, there were so many reasons and yet when Scarlett tried to think of them her mind went blank. Finally she just said "I don't know."

Gaara gave her that raised eyebrow look prompting her to explain further.

"I just well, I…" Scarlett stuttered for a little bit and could tell that Gaara was getting annoyed with her.

"I think it's because, because we're both lonely." She blurted out and Gaara blinked in surprise. Scarlett fiddled with the zipper on the jacket nervously as she continued.

"I grew up in a family full of people, and it was easy to get lost in the masses. I always felt like I never got enough attention, as bad as that sounds. There was that and because of…certain events, it felt like people walked on eggshells around me, afraid I would break if they did anything to sudden. My mother didn't treat me like that but then she died and my father remarried. She isn't a bad women but she didn't understand me the way mom did. They were okay parents but they didn't like me to play with other kids for very long, or want me to do sports, so I turned to books. They let me read as much as I wanted because it didn't put any "stress" on me. They treated me like a cripple or a clinically ill child and I hated it. Eventually no one wanted to play with me because I could never finish a game, and I retreated into my stories. I was lonely though, and I guess when I first read about you something about the way your character was I could relate to."

Scarlett stopped there and blushed. "Before you were introduced I actually had a huge crush on Naruto." She stared at the ground refusing to meet Gaara's gaze after she said that.

"Do you still like him?" Gaara wondering why he cared.

"No. Well I like him I just don't have a crush on him anymore. I just like you better for some reason." Gaara nodded and the pair walked the rest of the way in silence wrapped up in their own thoughts.

The boarding house was still empty when they got there so Gaara just followed Scarlett up to her room.

"Want to watch a movie?' Scarlett asked taking her shoes off first; she wanted to wear his jacket as long as possible.

Gaara shrugged "I think I have one in there. I'll just push play." He said and Scarlett replied with a nod and a yawn. The theme song started playing for one of the Naruto episodes and Gaara stood staring at the TV. Scarlett plopped down on her bed

"What are you looking at?" she asked when Gaara continued to stand there.

"I keep seeing something…." He started but trailed off.

"What?"

Gaara reached out to show her what he was seeing and his finger brushed the screen, when he did several thing happened at once.

Scarlett saw a face flash on the TV, there was suddenly a loud popping noise, and the Gaara was gone.

One minute he was standing there, and the next there was nothing but the TV.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Merry Christmas! And Happy Holidays to those that don't celebrate Christmas. For those that don't celebrate anythng on this day, Happy Sunday! Now I know this chapter is mostly filler but it sets stuff up for the second half of this story. I apologize for the filler but try and bear with me. The new year is nearly upon us and I will begin weekly updates then. **_

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><p>"Scarlett wake up!" Belly yelled at the lump of a girl curled up in a ball on her bed.<p>

The girl groaned and rolled over to glare at Belly who stood with her hands on her hips glaring at her.

"What?" Scarlett croaked realizing her throat was dry. She had skipped dinner yesterday so she could go to bed earlier and hadn't had anything to drink since her soda at lunch.

"You promised Hennery that you would get out of bed do something other than sleep today."

Scarlett groaned again remembering she had promised Henery that last night just so he would leave her alone and let her sleep.

"Do I have to?" she asked Belly pleadingly.

All she wanted to do was sleep and dream of Gaara, being awake had no appeal to her.

"Yes." Belly replied sternly. "We're going to go shopping, grab lunch, see a movie, and afterwards were going to meet everyone at Louie's sweet shop. And for once since this jerk that left you, and we're going to make you smile and have a good time. We're sick of this Letti that never smiles and only sleeps. We miss our old Letti and we want her back."

Scarlett sighed and sat up. She supposed she should probably get this over with. She would fake her way through the day and them she could get back to bed and sleep. "Fine." She grumbled.

"Let me get a shower."

"Good idea you could use a good wash. Then I'm choosing your outfit and if you still have those hideous bags under your eyes, I'm tying you down and putting make-up on you. I will not walk around town with you looking like a zombie, even if I have to pump caffeine in you with an IV."

Scarlett repressed another sigh and as she headed to her bathroom. She plugged in her iPod and turned the hot water all the way up. It was cold today for some reason and she felt so tired. She shouldn't even feel sleepy with how much she slept but she did, it felt like a weight was dragging her muscles down. Maybe she should get out a move around all this sleeping couldn't be good for her.

She stepped into the water and felt it warm her chilled body, making her even sleepier. She sat on the shower's floor and leaned against the wall. It had been a little over two months since Gaara had disappeared, and Scarlett was still a broken mess over it.

Most people would find it odd that Scarlett was upset over a made up character, however Gaara had been real. He had existed in her world only for a short time but he had existed none the less. She knew she hadn't imagined him either, because her brother was pissed that she was so broken up about him, and she had Gaara's jacket.

The jacket he had handed to her when she had been cold as they walked home their last night together. The same jacket that if she concentrated hard enough she could still smell Gaara's faint scent lingering on it.

She had put up in her closet safe from Henery who would throw it away and safe from smells that would cover his. Say what you would about the obsessive weirdness of sniffing his jacket, but Scarlett loved Gaara.

Her heart was broken now that she knew that somewhere out there in the universe Gaara was alive and breathing, not just an imaginary character. Now that Scarlett knew that she couldn't go back. He owned her heart whether or not he knew, or wanted it.

Her heart was his, and he was gone.

So Scarlett did what most depressed broken hearted people did, she slept. For the first couple of weeks all she did was sleep. Henery finally had enough of it and one morning when she once again refused to get out of bed, Henery dragged her he kicking and screaming into her bathroom and shoved her into a cold shower clothes and all.

This initiated an hour long screaming match between them, in which Scarlett finally agreed to stop acting like a dying person and get out of bed.

And she did, she was just very zombie like. During the holidays she fake smiled her way through family gatherings and put on a front. Henery covered for her but only because he knew it worry his parents beyond measure if they knew how depressed Scarlett was.

But he never stopped nagging her; he would break his little sister out of this if it killed him.

Still Scarlett couldn't help her broken heart so her days were mostly school, work, and then sleep. On weekends it was just sleep, think about getting up, but then sleep anyways. Thats what her weekend would have been today had it not been for Henery's interfering. But she was so sleepy.

She would just close her eyes for a moment…just a moment.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Happy New Year! Weekly updates will now be on Sundays...if everything goes according to plan. Enjoy, and review please!**_

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><p>Scarlett was awakened by a sudden sound, well more like the absence of sound.<p>

The bathroom was only filled with the sounds of running water. Belly must have turned her iPod off and was probably going to get something heavy to hit her with. Scarlett stood up and stretched. She felt better now.

Maybe a quick cat nap was what she needed. She yawned once and pulled the curtain aside only to find her staring face to face with a guy. She blinked once and then with a scream crouched down trying to hide herself. What the hell was a guy doing in her bathroom? Was this Belly's idea of a sick joke?

The guy let out a yelp as well, and grabbed a towel to cover his shame as well.

Someone must have heard he screams Scarlett could hear footsteps running towards them. Good Henery could beat the hell out of this sicko. Instead of Henery bursting though the door however, an all too familiar blonde girl burst in followed quickly by a red head that had been haunting Scarlett in her dreams.

"Kankuro what the hell?" Temari yelled.

Scarlett felt her heart race and just knew her entire body was completely red.

"I-I know what this looks like Temari. But I swear I really have no idea how a girl got in here this time. Honest!"

Scarlett snuck a peek at Gaara and found him staring at her. Fire flashed through her belly and she could feel herself start to shake. The embarrassment of being completely naked in front of people was tripled by the fact that Gaara stood there staring at her.

"Temari, Kankuro argue later!" Gaara's stern voice interrupted the frantic pleading of Kankuro to Temari's angry yelling.

"Kankuro get dressed. Temari find something for the girl to wear and take her to my office. If I'm not there just leave her."

"Gaara-" Temari began to protest.

"Just do as I say." Gaara cut her off.

He then turned and marched out of the room with Kankuro following him. When there were gone Temari turned to glare at Scarlett only to find her still curled up in a ball shaking like a leaf. Scarlett was scared, nervous, and embarrassed as all get out, she couldn't even begin to control her body spasms. It was even harder because she wasn't sure if she was dreaming or if she was actually here.

Maybe she had fallen asleep in the shower and was dreaming. She could only hope. Still dream or not she could feel an anxiety attack coming on and she hadn't had one o those since she was little. Temari heaved a sigh and decided she felt sorry for the pitiful thing shivering in front of her.

"Wait here a second okay?" she said and came back a few minutes later with some clothes and held him out to her.

"These should fit. Get up and try them on."

Scarlett stood up shakily and took the clothes. "Ummm… C-could you gi-give me a sec-second." Scarlett stuttered.

Temari gave her a hard look but decided a few private minutes couldn't hurt.

"I'll be standing right outside." she warned as she left.

The clothes Temari had given Scarlett were nothing but a pair of cloth shorts and a tank top, and they we're a little big on her, but at having something to cover herself with helped with the shaking. She took a few deep breaths trying to brace herself for what was coming. Scarlett felt some of the anxiety subside and decided she could stay in this bathroom forever.

She opened the bathroom door and Temari stood there waiting for her.

"Well at least you're covered." She said giving her a glance over. C'mon." She added. Scarlett followed silently she had no idea where Gaara's office was she assumed it was in the same building so she was surprised when Temari lead her out the front door and down the street.

It was early morning and not a lot of people were out. Scarlett was glad for that, because those that were out stared at her as she passed. She didn't look that bad, sure her hair was a wild mess but without a brush there wasn't much she could do about it. They soon arrived at a building not unlike the many others that were around it. It was just a little bigger and it had two guys standing outside of it that greeted Temari by name.

"Good morning Ms. Temari."

Temari simply nodded and ushered Scarlett inside. Temari hadn't said a word to Scarlett the whole way here and Scarlett could feel the panic feeling increasing because the silence gave her a chance to think too much. "In here." Temari said opening a door that was almost completely camouflaged into the wall.

"Sit and don't move a muscle." She added as she pointed to a chair that Scarlett. Temari left her after that and Scarlett was now free to freak out. All Scarlett did was stare in wonder. She was in Gaara's office. There was no way she could actually be sitting in his office, she had to be dreaming. But hadn't Gaara managed to come to her world, why couldn't she come to his?

It was all too much Scarlett's head was spinning.

There was a commotion outside she heard loud voices, she stood up and stared at the door. Hoping to catch and glimpse of what was happening, getting ready to run if needed. "Leave." Gaara demanded to the person outside as he strode into the room. He didn't miss a beat as his eyes turned to Scarlett standing there looking panicked.

He walked right over spun Scarlett around and lifted her shirt up. Scarlett felt her face go red and squeaked.

"You are her." Was all Gaara said releasing her shirt and stepping back.

Scarlett clutched the bottom of her shirt holding it down as if she was afraid it was going to fly up, and tried to concentrate on her breathing. Gaara looked at Scarlett like she was a foreign object, and Scarlett was too afraid to ask what was going on.

"How?" he demanded to know suddenly gaining his composure.

"How did you get here?" he said his voice getting louder more demanding. Scarlett felt herself shrink at his harshness.

"I-I don't know. I- I just woke up. And, and I, I was here and…" she could tell there were tears welling up in her eyes. She was so confused and she could feel the anger roll of him in waves. Scarlett felt her fear engulf her chest, which made her start shaking even more than before.

Gaara had gotten annoyed at her before that was something she could handle, but the whole time that Gaara had been in her world with her he had never once gotten mad. Well he did once but it hadn't been like this, and it frightened her more than anything else had before.

"Don't do that." Gaara said suddenly and it took her a minute to realize she was crying. He glared at the ground as he spoke.

"It's not you I'm mad at. So stop, I- just stop crying."

Wait was Gaara actually trying to comfort her? Now Scarlett was even more turned around.

"I- I'm s-sorry. I'm just so con-confused." Scarlett said with a hiccup.

She sank to the ground and pulled her knees up to her chest. She put her head between her knees and focused on her breathing. It was a trick her mom had taught her whenever Scarlett had gotten too worked up over something as a child. She stopped crying and her body slowly stopped shaking. When she felt better she lifted her head and noticed Gaara was sitting next to her. He just sat there staring at the wall.

"Gaara?" She said softly her throat raw from crying. He closed his eyes for a minute like he was in pain before looking at her.

"Better?" he asked. Scarlett nodded.

"You don't know how you got here?"

Scarlett shook her head.

"Do you remember what happened right before you woke up here?"

Scarlett nodded and blushed a little. "I had just gotten in the shower. I remember I was tried so I sat down and I closed my eyes for a few minutes. When I opened them again I was here and all this happened."

Gaara nodded and they sat in silence. Finally the question burned a hole in her mouth and she just had to ask.

"Why…why did you lift up my shirt like that?" Scarlet asked face burning again.

"You scar. I was making sure it was there." He replied simply.

"Oh."

The scar she had gotten on that one day, long ago. Everything felt so surreal to her now; it was almost like she was in a dream, only everything told her she was very much awake. Her eyes burned from crying and she could feel the drowsiness that the anxiety attack had left her with.

"What now?" she asked in the lengthening silence.

Gaara took a long time to reply. The silence stretched on making Scarlett nervous again.

"We find you a place to stay." He finally said.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Continuing on with the Sunday updates. Enjoy the next chapter!**_

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><p>Where else could Scarlett stay but with the Kazekage himself?<p>

Scarlett was alone with no skills to protect herself, no family, and she was an outsider. If Gaara didn't protect her, Scarlett could end up hurt, or worse. Gaara didn't want that so he fixed her up in the spare room. The room was the attic that Temari had fixed up a long time ago to be a guest room.

There was no private bathroom attached but it worked for Scarlett. It was bigger than the room she had at home, and the giant window had a great view of the town. The room even had a big four poster bed with curtains and everything, Scarlett felt kind of like a princess sleeping in it.

Though Scarlett and Gaara were so far content with the accommodations, Temari for one did not like having a stranger living in her house. Especially one that was found randomly naked in it. Kankuro was fine with it as far as anyone knew, he refused to stay in the same room with Scarlett for very long however. Not that Scarlett minded much, she was still way to uncomfortable with the fact that he had seen her in such a private way.

Scarlett soon found that life in the sibling's house was going to be completely different from what she expected. Everyone left early and came back late. Gaara also refused to let Scarlett leave the house alone, and since he was at work so much, Scarlett found herself stuck in an empty house.

Gaara bought a TV for her to try and help with the boredom, and Scarlett entertained herself with that for a while. She started working out in the morning along with an exercise program that came on. She also watched a lot of cooking shows and soap operas. She had yet to find a cartoon channel that kept her interest very long. But she still became bored, and was starting to become quite lonely.

As the days wore on Scarlett found herself becoming more and more restless. She would often find herself walking around the house humming for no apparent reason. When she caught herself doing this she started to worry that she was going crazy; she knew being shut up in a house could do that to a person. But she didn't feel crazy she just felt bored, and sad, and lonely.

It was a weirdly cloudy day in Suna when Scarlett discovered the piano. She knew that Gaara's house had a basement. She was told about how Kankuro used to keep all his puppets down there before he moved them someplace he thought was safer. Exploring the basement seemed like a way to kill the afternoon so Scarlett took the dusty trek down the stairs into the cellar.

It was a decent sized room and cleaner than any other basement that Scarlett had been in. A few dusty boxes lined the walls and cobwebs hung off the ceiling. But what Scarlett was most interested in was the giant sheet covered shape that sat in the middle of the room.

She walked over to it and gently pulled the sheet off.

An ebony piano sat underneath, and gleamed in the dim light. She lifted the lid that covered the keys and slowly ran her fingers over the keys. She pressed down on the last key and it sent a lovely vibrating sound throughout the basement. The piano was tuned and well taken care of; someone in this house either played it, or was very attached to it. Scarlett sat on the seat and played a few notes from memory. A sense of nostalgia washed over her as she remembered her mother.

In her dad's house, in a room no one went in very often, sat a grand ivory piano that belonged to Scarlett's late mother. Her mother had played that piano every day. Scarlett remembered the piano would only sound beautiful if her mother played it.

Oh, how Scarlett had wished to be able to play like her mother could.

Yet no matter how patiently her mother taught her, the piano still never played for her like it did for her mother. Except for the day of her mother's funeral, the last time she ever played it.

She could still see herself in the little black dress she had worn to her grandma's funeral only a few months before. Henery and her Father were outside saying goodbye to the last of the well-wishers and family. Scarlett hadn't been able to bear it, she longed for her mother the way all sad children do, and headed to the only place in the house that held mother's presence.

She entered the room and headed straight to the piano. She sat down and only after a slight hesitation, started playing one of her mother's favorite songs, the very first one she had learned by memory.

The piano played for her as of it too mourned for the loss of Scarlett's mother. Scarlett could feel the burn of tears but continued playing. Even when the tears in her eyes fell over and clouded her vision, she kept hitting the keys.

Her Father had stood in the doorway listening, quietly. Scarlett had known he was there but she didn't want her dad, she wanted her mom. When her sobs finally became too violent for her to play anymore she stopped. Her father gently led her from the room. Soon after, the door was locked and Scarlett was banned from the room.

Scarlett looked over the keys trying to think of all the notes to the song. It had been so long ago that Scarlett doubted she could, but she wanted to try. She tripped over a few chords as first, but she could hear the melody clearly in her head and it wasn't long before she was playing it fluidly.

She closed her eyes as she played seeing in her head her mother going over the notes with her. Her long skinny fingers showing Scarlett's chubby kids ones where to push.

It was almost like going back in time. Scarlett could feel the tears welling up but refused to let them fall. She didn't want to ruin the moment by crying. She wanted to enjoy the warm memory of her mother, alive and well.

"Gaara?" a female voice called down the stairs starling Scarlett.

She expected Temari to poke her head down the stairs and sneer a little before turning back around. Instead of Temari however, a different girl appeared at the bottom of the stairs. She wore the proper ninja attire and looked familiar to Scarlett. But Scarlett hadn't met very many people being stuck inside all the time. On her short ventures out with Gaara there were a few people he had stopped and talked with. But most people in the village had brown hair and dark eyes like the girl, so she wouldn't have stood out very much if Gaara a spoken with her.

The girl narrowed her eyes and Scarlett felt a rush of air go by her face before hearing something hit the wall behind her. A few strands of hair fell into her lap and he looked behind her to see a kunai knife embedded into the wall.

She gulped and looked back at the girl who now stood in a fighting stance holding more kunai knives.

"I don't know who you are, or why you're here. But if you don't leave now I will have no choice but to use force."

"Wait a second let me-" Scarlett stood up trying to talk to her but was cut off mid-sentence by falling over the piano bench to dodge another knife that was thrown at her.

"Get out!" she yelled, suddenly standing over Scarlett.

"Wait a second!" Scarlett cried and barley managed to roll away in time to escape another knife. She crawled around to the other side of the piano while the girl pried her knife out of the ground. She stood up, then ducked in just enough time to miss getting hit again. Her boredom workouts were at least being put to good use.

Seeing the stairs were open Scarlett made a break for it, and managed to make it to them but the girl was hot on her heels. She ran up the stairs as fast as she could and was almost up them when she bumped into something solid that was standing at the top. Scarlett lost her footing and would have fallen if Gaara hadn't been the thing she bumped into.

He grabbed by the wrists and caught her just in time.

"Lord Gaara. I caught this intruder messing with your piano. I almost had her too."

"What were you doing in here Matsuri? I told you to wait outside." Gaara said.

The girl blushed and stumbled over her words. "I, well, I know you told me to wait outside. But it was getting late and I was wondering what was taking you so long. Then I heard someone start playing and I thought maybe you were down here and had forgotten me. You know how I love to hear you play, so I came to listen. But then I found her down there playing instead."

"You play the piano?" Scarlett asked and Gaara gave her a 'not now' look.

"Sir, if I may ask. Who is this girl?" Matsuri asked noting that Gaara had yet to let go of Scarlett.

Gaara realized why she was asking at the same time and let go. Scarlett wobbled but kept her balance somehow.

"She's none of your concern. Go wait outside." He replied.

"Yes sir." Matsuri did as she was told looking very much like a kid who had been denied candy.

"Are you all right?" Gaara asked when Matsuri was gone. Scarlett nodded. "I'm fine."

"Good." Gaara said and turned to leave.

"I tripped over your bench though and knocked it over." Scarlett added and Gaara reversed direction and went down the stairs.

Scarlett followed behind silently and watched as Gaara carefully picked the bench up and examined it. He then went over to the wall and jerked the kunai out of the wall. For a split second Scarlett though Gaara was going to hurt her. But he pocketed the knife and headed past Scarlett up the stairs without a word. "Gaara?" Scarlett called after him. He stopped and looked back at Scarlett standing at the bottom of the stairs staring up at him.

"You should lock the doors when you're here by yourself. People can't walk straight in that way." He said before continuing on his way.

Scarlett could tell he was mad at her. Although what she had done to make him mad was completely beyond her. Scarlett sighed and walked back over to the bench.

She suddenly felt very tired; running for your life could have that effect on people.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Sorry for the late update iv'e been a little busy.**_

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><p>Gaara hadn't meant to be so cold to Scarlett he really hadn't.<p>

When he had walked in the door and heard the loud thud, he had gone into ninja mode. As much as he hated to admit it, he was worried Scarlett was in trouble. She was too, sort of. Seeing that it was only Matsuri who was causing all the commotion had both relieved and pissed him off. He was glad that Scarlett was okay, but pissed that she had left herself so vulnerable.

She wasn't in her world anymore; bad things could happen to her. Him being the Kazekage was a threat to anyone he showed a special interest in. Scarlett being under his protection was just enough of an incentive for an enemy to try and use her against him.

She should know that.

Gaara tried to keep his focus on his work that afternoon but it was proving difficult. His mind kept drifting back to Scarlett and how her face had been when she was looking up at him from the cellar. His mind replayed constantly the way her face had fallen when he had only cold things to say. Gaara had to call it a day early. He wasn't going to get much work done.

He stepped outside and looked at the darkening horizon. The air was tainted strongly with the malice of the shadowed horizon. It looked like a thunderstorm was coming and from the looks of the sky it was going to be a pretty bad one. They might even get a little rain. Gaara arrived home just as the wind started picking up. He entered and was surprised to find Temari sitting in the kitchen drinking a cup of tea while she read a book.

"You're home early." She said taking a sip.

"So are you." He replied.

"The storm sounds pretty bad. We should probably get the candles." Temari said without looking up from her book.

Gaara nodded knowing this was her way of telling him to do it. Temari didn't like going down into the basement, she wouldn't admit it but Gaara and Kankuro both knew she would avoid going down there at all costs.

As Gaara approached the basement door he could hear the sound of a piano coming from the slightly cracked door. Not wanting to interrupt whoever was playing, Gaara silently pulled the door open and carefully walked down the stairs. Kankuro sat at the bottom watching silently. Sensing Gaara he turned and put a finger to his lips in the shushing gesture.

With the way the piano was arranged all Scarlett had to do was turn her head to be able to see them. But she was fully focused on the piano, and played on not noticing they were there. She was playing a song that she had been working on since she discovered the instrument in its dark cave. It had taken more than a couple of tries and it wasn't quite the same, but she was trying to match a song from her head.

Without the real music it would be hard to duplicate. At least she felt close enough to the original score to sing along. Scarlett didn't have a beautiful voice that could make angels cry, but she didn't have one that could make your ears bleed either.

It was mediocre at best, but when accompanied by the piano it wasn't completely horrible to listen to. Gaara found himself standing there captivated by was just something in the way that she played, that suddenly made even watching her hair slide across her shoulders interesting.

Kankuro looked up at his brother and smiled to himself. Kankuro may not be the smartest of the group but he was excellent at reading body language. And when those two were together their language talked of a hidden closeness that neither wanted to admit to. The way he watched her now only proved what Kankuro had suspected already.

A sudden clap of thunder startled Scarlett making her jump causing her to see the brothers sitting on the stairs out of the corner of her eye. "How- how long were you standing there?" Scarlett asked turning to face them feeling the back of her neck heating up.

"Not long." Kankuro replied when Gaara said nothing.

Scarlett was slightly embarrassed that Gaara had heard her sing; she knew her voice wasn't very good. What she didn't know was that Gaara didn't care about her singing; he was just surprised to find that she could play the piano.

"What song were you singing?" Kankuro asked trying to keep the conversation going, a plan forming in his brain. He just needed to send the conversation in the right direction. Scarlett looked at her lap before replying.

"It's just a song I've got stuck in my head. I used to listen to it a lot but it's been awhile. I probably don't even have it right; a lot of it is improvising on what I can't remember."

"I liked it; maybe you can sing it for us again." Kankuro said with a smile.

"I-I don't know. It's not done and I'm not sure if I can get it right." Scarlett replied a little flustered. She didn't expect anyone to ever like her singing. She was under the impression that only people with lovely heartbreaking voices were allowed to sing.

"Awww, come one. I know we'd both like to hear it completed. Wouldn't we Gaara?" Kankuro said elbowing his leg lightly. "I wouldn't mind." Gaara replied monotone. Like he was going to let his brother see him show an interest.

"Oh, ok. I…I'll let you know when it's finished then." Scarlett said.

If Gaara really wanted to hear her sing she wasn't going to say no, even if it did cause her to feel like throwing up.

"Temari wants us to get the candles." Gaara said changing the subject suddenly.

"I think she keeps them in one of those boxes." Kankuro said pointing to them. Gaara stared at him for a moment. Kankuro gave a sigh and got up. They both went over and started digging through the boxes. Curious Scarlett said.

"What do you need candles for?"

"Temari doesn't like to have the power on during storms. She says it's a fire hazard." Kankuro explained.

"Is it going to be a bad storm?" Scarlett asked. She wasn't very fond of thunder or lighting. She wasn't terrified of it but without music to block it out she might not be able to sleep very well. Kankuro grinned at her.

"The thunder can get pretty loud. But don't worry, you can always come crawl into my bed if you get scared."

"No-no thanks. I'll be fine." Scarlett blushed.

Gaara shoved a box of candles at Kankuro a little harder than necessary.

"I'll be awake. You'll be fine." He told Scarlett.

Scarlett nodded and Kankuro just smiled.

The storm passed with a lot of wind blowing and very little rain. Thunder and lightning were present but they only threatened and no serious damage was caused. The days after were soon filled with dry desert heat once again, and life in Suna resumed as normal.

Finally, after some prodding by Kankuro, Scarlett worked up enough courage to tell them she was ready to play. Yet somehow on the evening that Scarlett was going to perform for them, Kankuro suddenly became extremely busy and told Scarlett to play it without him. He thought of only playing for Gaara almost made Scarlett chicken out.

Later that evening though, Kankuro snuck down to the basement to find the two sitting together on the piano bench. Gaara was teaching Scarlett something and it made Kankuro chuckle silently to see his little anti-social brother not afraid to take Scarlett's hand and show her how to hit the keys.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Sorry! I know it's late but I have been so flippen busy it isn't even funny. But I'm staying up past my bedtime just to upload this so have some pity...please?**_

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><p>Burning.<p>

Scarlett could feel every limb on her body on fire, the pain shooting through her so hard it made her vomit. Suddenly the burning subsided leaving her someplace cold.

She looked around but everything was dark, only a dim light that seemed to come from nowhere casted a small glow. She couldn't see anything but two shadowy figures on the floor in front of her.

She kneeled down and got a closer look only to jump back, losing her balance and falling on her butt. The figures were rotting corpses; flesh opened showing organs Scarlett didn't want to see, and maggots feasting on them. One of the bodies sat up and smiled causing Scarlett to let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Scarlett." The corpse hissed and Scarlett backed up whimpering.

"Scarlett." It repeated getting louder now crawling towards her.

She got up and tried to run but the thing was suddenly in front of her. It opened its mouth revealing razor like teeth, its mouth coming closer and closer. Scarlett screamed again and thrashed around wildly trying to get free but its grip was to strong.

Just as the things teeth were about to make contact Scarlett opened her eyes to find herself staring into Gaara's, her whole body drenched in sweat and trembling.

"What happened?" Temari's voice asked from the doorway.

"Nightmare." Gaara replied then turned back to Scarlett.

"Are you okay?" he asked her softly surprising Temari, who had never seen her little brother act so nice to someone.

Scarlett just shook her head and buried her face in Gaara's chest. The dream had fled her memory as fast as she had opened her eyes. The only thing left was the feeling of terror and the sickly sweet smell of something rotting.

Scarlett fell back into a fitful sleep sometime near dawn with Gaara watching over her. She felt the burning start up again trying to drag her back to that horrible place where that disgusting thing waited for her. Its teeth glinted in the dim light a long black lounge sliding over them hungrily… Scarlett jolted up in bed with another scream.

Gaara looked up from his book and to watch her. Scarlett pulled her knees up to her chest and tried to calm her breathing, not wanting to cause a scene while she was awake too.

"I don't think you'll get much more sleep. You might as well get up." Gaara said putting his book down and standing up. "You should take a hot shower. It might make you feel better." He added as he left the room.

Scarlett did as he suggested then headed down to the kitchen feeling just a little bit better than when she had when she woken up.

The dreams still eluded her but she couldn't close her eyes without seeing knife like teeth coming towards her, and her muscles burned like she had been running. But the water had loosened her muscles just enough that she didn't feel like a coiled spring ready to explode.

Breakfast was a normal enough affair and by the end of the day Scarlett went to bed hoping it was over, only to be sorely disappointed.

Gaara, and everyone else for that matter, ended up becoming increasingly worried as the nightmares continued on.

Scarlett went to bed hoping that she would be able to sleep; only to wake up tangled up in sheets soaked with her sweat, not knowing what she had been dreaming only that she was scared and it was getting worse.

Scarlett eventually reached a point where she just stopped trying to sleep.

She tried to keep herself busy but there was only so much she could do with a fistful of short naps and she would dose off somewhere to wake up screaming, feeling twice the terror when she knew no one else was in the house. Scarlett started to feel eyes staring at her from the shadows and became increasingly paranoid as sleep became near impossible to obtain.

Scarlett sat on the couch watching TV through bleary, bloodshot eyes, too tired to focus and barely enough strength to hold up her head. She laid her head back on the arm of the sofa and stared up at the ceiling. Her heavy eyelids blinking open and shut. Fighting sleep terrified of what it would bring.

A shadow jerked and Scarlett's eyes flew open. A few moments passed and nothing out of the ordinary happened and she passed it off as a trick of the light. Scarlett snuggled back down knowing she shouldn't but she was suddenly too comfortable to care.

Her eyes closed and a dark form passed over them.

Scarlett tensed feeling the eyes on her again. She slowly opened them and sat up seeing nothing once again. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes, hating that her overworked brain was playing tricks on her again.

Maybe she should make some tea and see if the caffeine would help. She went to stand up only to find that her legs wouldn't move. She looked down to see black ooze squeezing around her legs.

"What the-" she said reaching down to touch the stuff. Her hand near and the gunk jumped and attached itself to her hand. Scarlett squealed and the goo ran up her arm and covered her mouth.

All Scarlett could do was sit there as the muck slowly covered her entire body consumed her. Struggling was as futile as trying to scream and she sat there panicking until she was finally released into pitch black silence.

Scarlett awoke who knew how much later, feeling like she hadn't missed a day of sleep in her life. She sat up and looked around faintly recognizing the dark room she was in. Standing up she stretched her stiff body and tried to explore.

She was met with locked doors and window that held nothing of interest to see. She could feel her anxiety rising and tried to keep calm but she knew she was in trouble.

"Gaara!"

She called hoping against hope that this was just some stupid joke that he was playing on her. Deep down she knew Gaara wasn't the joking type and that no matter how much she called he wouldn't answer. She did however receive a response from her cries and just as she suspected it wasn't Gaara that replied.

"Don't wear yourself out. He won't answer." A voice slithered from the dark sending chills down her back.

"Who are you? Where am I?" she asked trembling with fear.

A man stepped from the shadows, gelled back silver hair gleaming in the half light. He smiled revealing razor teeth.

"All in good time dear. All in good time."


	16. Chapter 16

_**I know this took forever to get out and i'm sorry. Please forgive me.**_

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><p>The man stared at Scarlett hungrily, as if he had been waiting for years just to devour her. All Scarlett could do was sit there terrified, pieces of her dreams flashing through her mind sending chill down her back and making her nauseous.<p>

"Finally…" he whispered stepping towards her.

Suddenly there was a flash of light and the man let out an angry scream, diving towards Scarlett. But Scarlett was being dragged backwards, like she was being sucked through a tunnel, and he missed her foot by inches.

The dark closed in around her and her lungs begged for air that Scarlett couldn't seem to find. All at once oxygen burst back into her lungs and her vision returned. Scarlett found herself lying in a familiar room not sure whether to be relieved or freaked out. She knew she was in her room the posters on the wall told her that much, but how she had gotten here she couldn't even begin to figure out.

"Dammit." A female voice exclaimed, followed by a loud banging sound. Scarlett shot up ready to run, but what she saw stunned her more than a man with razor teeth ever could. He mother stood before her leaning against her bedroom door. Head down and fist against the door from hitting it, an angry look burned in her eyes.

"Mommy?" Scarlett squeaked.

The woman looked over at Scarlett and her angry eyes softened slightly, she straightened up and gave Scarlett a small smile. Scarlett was shocked to see how her mother had changed. Her mother had always looked so elegant and put together but the mother she saw standing before her was completely different. Her long dark hair hung wildly down her back, and she wore a red tank top that displayed scars and markings that Scarlett had never seen before.

Scarlett also noticed she had weapon holders attached to her legs and one to her arm. She almost couldn't believe that this was her mother, but how could she not be? Everything from the way she smiled to the way she said Scarlett's name told her it was her mother.

"Ho- how can you be here? Where are we? What's going on?"

Scarlett asked letting her frantic emotions pour out, tears threatening to spill over at any moment. Everything was going crazy and Scarlett could feel herself starting to freak out. She had gone from being haunted by nightmares, to being almost attacked by some creep, and now she sat in her bedroom, which she hadn't seen in months, staring at someone who was supposed to be dead.

Scarlett's mother came over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, trying to calm her daughters who looked on the verge of a panic attack.

"I know you're freaked out right now, and believe me when I say I wish I could tell you that this was just some horrible dream, but it's not. Now we don't have a lot of time so I need you to listen to me okay?"

Scarlett nodded and sniffled a little.

* * *

><p>Gaara stared into the living room. The sun was setting, slowly sucking the light out of the room casting it in semi darkness. Scarlett was not there. He moved on to her room and then checked the basement.<p>

Still Scarlett was missing.

Gaara could feel the uneasy feeling in his stomach grow with each room that Scarlett was not found in. He mentally kicked himself for not listening to his gut this morning when it told him not to leave her alone. He had thought it was simply him feeling bad because she looked so pitiful sitting on his couch, eyes half closed from exhaustion, glaring bruise like areas under her eyes showing just how little sleep she had gotten.

He knew just how she felt; he had never been able to sleep either. He supposed she had I a bit harder seeing as how for the first seventeen years of her life sleep had been something she could attain, when he had never been able to sleep. So he had chalked his uneasiness up to sympathizing with the same condition he had, and left anyways.

Now he searched through every room in the house, even calling her name every so often hoping for an answer, and knowing none was coming. The sun had finished setting and the house was now dark, still no Scarlett had appeared. Gaara waked back to the living and flipped on the light. He wanted to search the last place he had seen her more closely. He went over to the couch and examined it.

A half drank glass of curdled milk sat on the coffee table and the TV was surprisingly turned off, the remote halfway underneath the couch, like it had been knocked down. As Gaara reached underneath the sofa to retrieve the remote his finger came into contact with something cold and slimy.

He pulled his hand out and found the tip of his pinky covered in some kind of black ooze. He moved the sofa and revealed a strange symbol painted underneath in the same stuff that was son his pinky.

Temari walked in a few moments later and found half the living room rearranged, her brother surrounded by books, and black symbols painted on the floors.

"Gaara what the hell?" she yelled dropping her bag and resisting the urge to smack him.

"Scarlett's missing." He said turning the page in his book, scanning it, and turning to the next one finding nothing useful.

"And so you're what? Trying to summon her back or something?" she asked putting her hands on her hips.

Gaara glared at his sister not appreciating the tone she was using.

"No, I'm trying to figure out what these symbols mean."

He said and Temari sighed giving in to her curiosity, she walked in and gasped when she noticed the circle of symbols Gaara was looking at.

"Where the hell did you learn to draw these?" She asked hugging herself as chills ran down her back.

"You know them then?" he asked.

"Yes, and there aren't something you should use, not even if it will bring your girlfriend back."

"I didn't draw them."

"What?" Temari asked staring in disbelief at her brother.

"I came home to find Scarlett missing and these creating a circle around the couch where I last saw her sitting."

Temari shook her head , backing up to the door of the room, fear settling in the deepest part of her stomach and twisting itself, making her nauseated.

"We, we need to get Baki. This is not good, this is so not good."

Temari said and turned, fleeing the room leaving Gaara staring after her with only his unanswered questions.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Yay! Another update for all you lovely readers. How happy are we? The explanation kind of gives you a runddown of whats going on. I know it still leaves some unanswered questions but Gaara needed something to go on, and so did all you awesome people. If anything doesn't make sense let me know. I know how everything is happenening so if something doesn't seem to fit, review an tell me, so I can either fix it or make shure it gets explaned the right way. Enjoy!**_

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><p>Baki had come taken one look at the symbols and the next thing Gaara knew there was a whole team of ninja in his living room examining every inch of his living room.<p>

Then came the questions, Who was Scarlett? How long had she been here? How did he know her? He answered nothing beyond the basics and swore that Scarlett was not a threat and never had been to him.

Of course he got skeptical looks, from everyone except Kankuro who upon learning of Scarlett's disappearance had all but demanded a search party be sent out immediately. Even though the meeting between him and Scarlett had been less than ideal he had become quite fond of Scarlett, and thought of her as the little sister he never knew he wanted. After much whining Temari agreed to let him search the area for clues just to keep him busy and out of her way.

Gaara however was promised to be notified as soon as there was something to be reported and was sent to wait in the kitchen where he became increasingly testy. Temari had yet to tell him what the markings meant, and Baki had waved him off saying it wasn't important at the moment. Seeing as how there was a group of highly trained and skilled ninja tearing out chunks of his living room floor he failed to see how it wasn't important, but he bit his tongue knowing he would get his answers one way or another.

The night wore on and shortly after midnight Gaara became fed up of waiting and began pacing, hoping it would help him keep his calm. All it did was make him restless and he began walking around the house aimlessly trying to keep himself occupied. He checked in on the status of the living room a couple of times but still no one told him anything. Sometime later that night Gaara found himself gravitating up towards Scarlett's room.

He had avoided it all afternoon hating the way it made him feel seeing it empty. He finally decided that he might as well examine it and see if he could find anything helpful. He opened the door and that's when he smelled it, blood.

He saw a dark shape lying in the middle of the floor a dark pool of the sticky substance surrounded it. He tensed instantly his sand at the ready searching for a threat; he sensed nothing however and flipped on the light. The shape was revealed to be a body with long dark hair, Gaara almost thought it was Scarlett for a minute but the shape of the body wasn't right. Scarlett wasn't quite as curvy, and she certainly wasn't one to wear to carry weapons on her person.

Gaara slowly made his way over to the body and flipped it over on to his back to examine the face. He found himself staring into the face of a woman that Scarlett shared much of her looks with. A small gash was ripped open in her stomach, leaking it's fluid and over. Gaara started to get Temari knowing that his abilities as a medic were shoddy at best, but the woman groaned and opened her eyes.

Gaara froze and watched as the women sat up stiffly and pulled a small tube of liquid out her pocket which she then poured over the wound. The wound began bubbling and fizzing and she clenched her teeth against the pain. A minute later a scar appeared where the wound once was and the woman pushed her bangs out of her eyes with a small sigh before she noticed Gaara watching her.

She jumped up, gracefully missing the puddle of blood, and held up a wicked looking knife defensively.

"Who are you?" she asked with a glare. Gaara simply crossed his arms and returned the glare.

"I should be the one asking you that." The woman gave a sheepish look that reminded Gaara way to much of Scarlett and lowered the knife slightly. Gaara took that as his chance and wrapped the sand around her arms and legs. The woman looks scared for a moment but then collected herself. "You wouldn't happen to be Gaara, would you?"

"Depends on who needs to know."

"Look dude, I'm not going to sit here and play games. If you're not this Gaara kid Scarlett won't stop talking about, then can you at least tell me where he is?"

Gaara made the sand crawl up and cover the woman's stomach and made it constrict. Not by much but enough to hurt her a little.

"How do you know Scarlett?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"Isn't…it… obvious?" the woman said through staggered breaths feeling the pain of being squished.

"I'm her…mother."

"Her mother is dead." Gaara said without missing a beat.

He wasn't ignoring the fact that the person did share and uncanny resemblance to Scarlett, but Scarlett had said it herself that her mother had died a long time ago. Seeing as how the female he had trapped in front of him was not a rotting corpse but a full blooded human who felt pain, he wanted to be cautious.

"No her mother disappeared and was presumed dead. They never found the body and the only reason the funeral was held was so that Scarlett and Henery had some kind of closure. You can dig up the grave if you want, the casket will be empty."

Gaara loosened the sand's grip slightly letting the woman breathe.

"And why does Scarlett not seem to know any of this?"

"She does, she didn't before but when I saw her we had a quick chat, then something bad happened and now I'm here because I need your help."

Gaara didn't reply but instead examined the woman before him. His head told him he shouldn't trust strangers, especially ones that were supposed to be dead. But his gut begged him to trust her because she seemed to know what had happened to Scarlett, which was the whole point of him listening to her in the first place.

"Look you need to hurry up and decided if you're going to help me or not because we've got maybe an hour before that summoning circle down there starts dragging in some very nasty creatures and you really don't want that."

Scarlett's mom said and Gaara mad the sand constrict so tightly and so fast that he almost did his sand coffin move. He gathered his wits in time though and loosened the sand just enough for her to breathe and answer his question.

"Tell me what those symbols are." He demanded.

"We don't really…" she started to say but he cut her off.

"You either tell me what they are and what all of this has to do with Scarlett or, I kill you right now."

"You kill me and you'll never find Scarlett." She retorted.

"If what you say about those symbols is true do you really have time to see if I'm bluffing or not?" he asked and the woman gave him a look of pure hatred that rivaled those he received from the villagers when he was younger and more bloodthirsty.

"Fine, I'll give you the short story. Basically my father, and Scarlett's grandpa, is a sociopathic lunatic and has a very elaborate plan to take over your world as well as the world that Scarlett has grown up in, maybe others ones. Scarlett's was created to be a portal between worlds and can travel through them quite easily. I can as travel through them as well but not as easily. I was scientifically altered by that horrible sperm donor, but Scarlett was born into it, hence her natural ability." "

When I learned of my father's, I escaped to the world in which you first found Scarlett, knowing he couldn't follow and I took the unborn Scarlett with me. After some years I learned my Father had managed to make a successful trip over into our world, and I knew I had to stop him before he got to Scarlett. That is why I disappeared and for a while I was a good distraction. But then Scarlett had to get obsessed with a comic that was based on the world we came from, and you."

She gave Gaara a pointed look. Gaara remained silent waiting for her to continue, but enjoyed the fuzzy feeling it gave him in his chest.

"How it the comic got created, I don't know, but it did and thanks to her powers she somehow managed to drag you into her world which got my dad's attention. I tried to send you back as soon as possible but it's not as easy for me to do it as it is for Scarlett. After I did manage to send you back Scarlett unfortunately followed you, making it easier for her grandpa to find her. I got him trapped in the other world while she was here, but he's become crafty in his old age, and has been using Scarlett's abilities while she was asleep and has been trying to drag her forcefully to where he is."

"Through sheer determination he forced his-self back into our world laid his summoning circle and grabbed Scarlett. I tried to save her but like I said he's become crafty in his old age and he got to her again. Now he's going to use her ability and drag all kinds of nasty things into this world and the other one. I can't fight him alone, I need help and seeing as how you're the Kazekage you must have some kind of power. Also Scarlett described you as really handsome and powerful so I was hoping she wasn't exaggerating. So there, that's what all this has to do with Scarlett. I know there is still a lot left to explain but we're kind of pressed on time. Now are you going to help me or not."

"If what you are saying is true, then yes I will help you." Gaara replied after a moment's thought.

"Good, now let's go."

She said and Gaara was suddenly sucked into darkness.


	18. Chapter 18

_**I think you guys are starting to really hate my cliff hangers. But it keeps you hooked and makes you review, so I like them. Don't worry though, everything is going to be wrapped up within the next few chapters so this should be my last cliffhanger. As always let me know what you think.**_

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><p>Gaara couldn't breathe and he didn't like it.<p>

Not only because he was suffocating, but because it made him wonder if this was how all his victims felt, and that was not a good place for Gaara to go. All of sudden landed on hard ground, coughing and gagging as his lungs expanded with air.

He stood up and watched as Scarlett's mother brush his now useless sand, the majority already pooled in a lifeless puddle at her feet.

"Doesn't work here huh? That's good. It's very uncomfortable, but it served its purpose I suppose." "You could have transported at any time, couldn't you?" Gaara asked. She nodded.

"Yes. But since your sand connected us I would have dragged you along with me, and I didn't want to do that without your consent. Now let's have a looksee shall we." She said and started to circle Gaara like a vulture.

"What are you doing?" he asked wishing he could still use his sand. Truthfully he felt naked without it, and there was something about this woman that put him on edge.

"Inspecting you what does it look like?" she replied. "By the way you can call me Clover. Just so you have a way to call me if you get into trouble."

Gaara stayed silent and waited for her to finsihed looking him Clover clapped her hands together with a smile. "Well you're rather scrawny but I can see where you have muscle. You should do for this, if everything goes right. Can you lift Scarlett with no problem?"

"I've never tried." Gaara admitted.

"Really?" Clover asked surprised. "I thought maybe, well never mind. I suppose she is her mother's daughter." She mumbled.

Gaara tried to keep his patience but it was wearing thin. There were just standing here talking, while Scarlett was off somewhere and in danger, it bothered him. "Where is Scarlett?" he finally asked cutting off Clover, who had been rambling, much like her daughter did. She gave a sheepish smile

"Well that's the part that going to be hard. You see that building over there?" she asked pointing to an old decrepit warehouse across the street. A small light burned in a window, but otherwise it looked abandoned. Gaara nodded and Clover continued.

"She is somewhere in that building. Now the plan is for me to cause a distraction and you to gab Scarlett and high tail it out of there as fast as you can, which may mean you'll have to carry Scarlett. I'm not sure what kind of shape she is going to be in, so we'll just have to expect the worst, which brings us to the other flaws in my plan. First off, if I don't make it back to you in time, you're going to have to run and try to find a safe place to hide. Second, if Scarlett's has any kind of strange markings on her, even if I do make it back to you in time, it's going to be hell transporting her anywhere. So there is most likely going to be a lot of running involved either way we do this."

"So your plan is to grab Scarlett and run?" Gaara asked unable to keep from thinking how alike the two women were, seeing as how both had a habit of not thinking things through.

Clover sighed "Like I said my dad has gotten crafty in his old age. If you look closely at the building over there you can just barely make out some dark forms moving around the entrance. Those are more than likely some nasty creatures my dad used Scarlett to summon because he's expecting me. So getting in and out of that building is going to be hard enough without having and actual fight on our hands. So yes, my plan is to grab and run because if we do end up in a fight Scarlett isn't going to be much help. I Love my kid. Don't get me wrong, I do. I wouldn't be here if I didn't. But when he attacked us earlier she wasn't exactly a very useful sidekick, she was mostly dead weight. Protecting her is how I got my side ripped open, and I ended up losing that battle anyways. Plus if we end up surrounded by those creatures there's not much we can do in the way of fighting them. They are not easy to kill."

"Everything can be killed." Gaara stated.

"Well aren't we a dark one." Clover said sarcastically.

Gaara glared and Clover rolled her eyes.

"Look if you have to go up against one just remember don't turn your back on it, even if you think it dead."

Gaara nodded."How do you expect me to fight at all with no weapon?"

"You really use your sand to fight?" Clover asked digging through a pouch on her leg.

"Yes." He replied as she handed him some shuriken.

"Strange…yet it sounds so familiar." She said thoughtfully handing him some kunai as well.

"I'll think of it later. Let's get going, stay behind me, stay close, and stay silent. Got it?" Gaara nodded and off they went.

Getting into the building was surprisingly easy. Clover turned out to be very skilled in stealth and picking locks, and they made it in through a second floor window without detection. Getting through the building however, turned out to be a tad more difficult. Gaara could see dark shapes moving in the shadows and Clover had them duck into empty room and they would stand the silently. While in those rooms he could hear heavy breathing outside the door and the sound of something sharp click on the wood floor. Then the clicking would pass and Clover would drag him out quickly the door shutting the door noiseless behind them.

Finally they made it down the stairs and Gaara could hear Scarlett as she counting under her breath. She whispered ten and suddenly grabbed Gaara and shoved him into a room. "If I'm not back in ten minutes take her and run." she whispered, and then she was gone, shutting the door in his face.

"Who's there?" a tiny voice croaked.

Gaara pulled out a kunai ready to fight only to discover that the voice came from the shape of a girl who was curled in a ball in the corner. It was hard to make out any of her features, the room was small and the only light came from a tiny window on the back wall and was covered in a blind, casting the tiny room into dark shadow. Gaara took a step towards her and she shrunk back as if she was afraid he was going to hit her.

"Please go away. I won't do it. It hurts too much." She whimpered.

"Scarlett." Gaara whispered recognizing the pitiful voice.

She was silent.

"Scarlett." He asked again louder.

The shape moved and he could hear the sounds of someone crying.

"Scarlett. It's me, Gaara." He said going closer and bending down in front of her.

"Just go away. I don't believe you." She said.

Gaara reached out blindly and found her arm.

"It's me." He said softly.

Her crying lessoned and she pulled his hand up to her face. Her cheek was wet and she was cold, like she had been sitting in a freezer. Suddenly she lurched forward and wrapped her arms around him. "Gaara" She breathed holding him tightly.

At first Gaara was too stunned to do anything. No one had ever voluntarily hugged him before and he was baffling for him now that someone was. It was nice though, having her so close, he sort of liked it. Slowly he put his arms around her too and pulled her closer. He felt some heat return to her body and tried to pull her even close to him. She was so cold, if he didn't get her warmed up she might go into shock. At least that's what he told himself.

She pulled away to soon however and Gaara found himself wanting to pull her right back. He restrained himself however. "Sorry." She said. "You just don't know how relieved I am that it's you."

"It's fine." Gaara said helping her to her feet, leaving the moment as something to ponder later.

"We have to go soon. Can you walk?" he asked as she stood there shakily.

"Yes. I can walk, somewhat. That's not the problem."

"Then what is the problem?"

"I can't… I can't see." She mumbled.

"What happened to your eyes?" he asked when she didn't elaborate.

"I don't know. He used me to make those, those things appear, and after that the light hurt my eyes too much. I couldn't open them, even the tiniest but of light hurt. So he locked me in here where it's dark."

Gaara grabbed her arm and pulled her to him."I'll carry you then. Here." he said ripping of a strip of his shirt. "Tie this around your eyes." Scarlett took the cloth then blushed when Gaara picked her up bridal style.

What was almost a very sweet moment between the two was cut short by the door opening and flooding the room with light.

"You didn't really think it was going to be that easy did you?" A silver haired man asked form the doorway. A sinister smile adorned his face and two giant half lizard, half wolf creatures flanked his sides.

"Don't hurt the girl." He said and the animals attacked.


	19. Chapter 19

_**Heres the next chapter. Qeustions are going to be answered soon I promise.**_

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><p>"I'll have you dealt with in a little while. I have a schedule to keep." The silver haired man said standing over Gaara.<p>

He was torn up and bloody in a way Gaara had never experienced before. Clover wasn't kidding when she said those things were hard to kill, and without his sand Gaara was less than half as deadly as he used to be. Scarlett sobbed in the corner, pinned by one of the creatures so she couldn't run.

Gaara had never felt so helpless in his life and he hated it, the feeling and this man, he hated them both with every ounce of his being. The man grabbed Scarlett by the arm and dragged her roughly from the room.

"I'm so sorry." He heard her whisper as the door shut leaving him in darkness.

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><p>Temari rubbed her eyes and blinked.<p>

The living room was clear of people, the only three left were Baki and two of the hired ninja who stood talking in the corner. She didn't remember anybody leaving, or anybody telling her that the successfully extracted the symbols. Temari stood up and stretched going over to join the conversation. Baki gave Temari a nod and the other ninja gave slight bows acknowledging her presence.

"Ma'am, we believe we have removed all traces of the curse marks. We sent most of the team home to rest but they will be back in a few hours to go over everything and double check." Temari nodded stifling a yawn.

"It's all right. They needed rest just as much as I did I'm sure. You two should go as well. I'll manage things here."

"Ma'am." They said in unison before taking their leave.

Temari sighed and yawned not being able to fight it. Her slight nap had done little to quell her exhaustion.

"We should get rest as well." Baki said putting his hand on Temari's shoulder.

"How did this happen?" she asked instead of agreeing.

"For almost a century now those symbols have been kept hidden. Only a select few such as us are even trained to recognize them, and we are forbidden, under penalty of death, to use them. Then this girl shows up out of nowhere and a few weeks later here they are practically burnt into my living room floor, and the girl mysteriously disappears the same day."

"I think that's something you should take up with your brother." Baki advised.

"Yes. I do believe it's time for me to get some answers. Excuse me." Temari left the living room and went to look for Gaara. She hadn't seen Gaara for a while, but she had a hunch about where he would probably be. Scarlett headed up the stairs towards the attic bedroom that Scarlett had claimed.

As soon as she placed her hand on the door her gut told her something was off. She placed a hand on her fan and opened the door slowly. The sight of a drying pool of blood sprinkled with sand met her eyes and she went into defensive mode, scanning the room for her brother or potential threats. None were found and Temari continued through the house cautiously, looking for her brother or the person who left the blood.

She assumed Gaara probably killed any intruder and that was where the blood came from, but then where was her brother? When the house proved empty she headed back to the living room to ask Baki if he had seen Gaara.

"Baki, do you know if Gaara left?" Temari asked as she entered the living room.

Baki was slumped against the wall unconscious and in the middle of the room was a man with silver hair.

"Tsk, tsk, you naughty people. You shouldn't destroy other people art work. It's rude you know."

Temari drew at her fan and swung it sending out one of her more powerful wind attacks. The furniture, wall and floors were cut to ribbons, but the man just stood there. The attacks had completely missed him. The symbols reappeared at the man's feet and now glowed an eerie red color.

"What the-" Temari said and tried to go in for another attack. He arms refused to move though. She looked at them and found them covered in black ooze. She began to struggle and try to rip the ooze off her, but it only grew tighter and continued to spread.

The ooze now covered her entire body except her and constricted so much that she could no longer move.

"Now, my dear, I think its best you calm down. I have a message for you to send to that council of yours." Temari opened her mouth to say something nasty but the ooze spread to cover her mouth as soon as it moved.

"You will tell your council that your Kazekage will be dead by tomorrow. You will also tell them that they should prepare for a battle. I plan on taking over this world, starting with your village. It wouldn't be any fun however if I didn't meet some kind of resistance. Don't forget now." He said releasing Temari. She went to do another attack but he was gone just as sueenly as he had appeared.

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><p>Gaara lay in the dark room, in too much pain to move. He knew he should try, that he had to do something, but he wasn't use to feeling this kind of pain. He didn't know how long he had been in this room so when the door opened he was prepared to fight with what little energy he had left.<p>

He forced himself to sit up and with the support of the wall behind him; he faced the person who stood in the doorway. Clover was there supported with the help of a person Gaara had never seen before. He turned the light on and dragged Clover in closing the door and locking it behind him.

He sat Clover down next to Gaara and began to loot through his pockets looking for something. The man was strange looking, he was completely bald and every inch of skin that Gaara could see was covered in markings or symbols that matched the ones he had discovered on his living room floor.

The man found what he was looking for and now held a silver cigarette case in his hands. He opened it and pulled out a small vial filled with green liquid. The man opened it and made a move towards Clover.

"Don't touch her." Gaara said pointing his last kunai knife at him.

"If you want her to regain consciousness you'll let me do my work." The man replied and tilted Clovers head back to pour the liquid in her mouth.

Gaara glared but let the man continue ready to attack if he made a false move. The man rubbed her throat making sure the liquid was swallowed.

"There now" He said sitting back.

A minute passed and Clover began to groan and foam at the mouth. Suddenly she was sitting straight up only to hunch over and puke out something black and slimy. She coughed and slouched back down tiredly.

"Thanks, Kole." She said hoarsely.

"Idiot." He said making Clover glare at him.

"Did you really think you could just come in cause a distraction, and get back out without being caught? And whats worse you brought a kid with you. What the hell are you thinking?"

"He's not just any kid. He's the Kazekage and he's very powerful." Clover retorted.

"Yeah, in his world where his laws apply. You know they change here, or did you not think that one through." Kole sighed and put his head in his hands.

Gaara watched the exchange silently. Clover glanced over at Gaara seeing his expression.

"Sorry Gaara, I'm sure you want to know who this asshole is."

"Better than being an idiot." Kole said taking another green vile out of the cigarette case. He handed this one to Gaara.

"Drink it. The lizard dog fangs are covered in poison, you'll wind up dead in another hour or two if you don't."

Gaara took it and glared at both Kole and Clover. Clover sighed.

"Look Kole is my inside man he knows what he's doing. If you want any hope and finishing this and saving Scarlett then just do as he says."

Gaara did and after he finished ridding his body of the slime he sat back.

"Explain." He demanded.

Kole pulled out a purple tube now and handed to Clover.

"You sip I'll talk." Kole then turned his attention to Gaara. He handed him a yellow vile before speaking.

"I am many things to many people. I am Adams, the crazy silver haired man, first successful experiment as well as his one and only lab partner. I am the mortal enemy of Clover and her only ally. I am also Scarlett's sperm donor as Clover likes to say."

Clover began to say something but Kole cut her off telling her to keep drinking. Gaara continued drinking his and listened.

"As I said I am Adams first alteration experiment that survived. But I can't actually travel to other worlds. I can only observe and gather information, and that is what I am used for. I am the one that discovered the world where the dog creatures come from, I am also the one that helped him discover a way to create a door to that world. This is where Clover and Scarlett come in. Now you must understand, his true intentions did not come out until after the alterations and impregnation of Clover. I helped Clover escape but I was stuck here in order to keep an insider's eye on Adam. Now here I am trying to patch you two back together so we can make one final attempt at stopping the mad man and saving Scarlett."

"You make is sound like it's hopeless." Clover said tossing her empty tube against the wall.

"It very well may be." Kole said.

"You know how little time we have and your first plan failed, epically." Clover glared at him.

"If your stupid sand would work, it wouldn't have." Clover mumbled at Gaara.

"Wait, sand." Kole asked as Gaara rolled his eyes. Gaara nodded

"In my world I can use sand as a weapon."

"I thought I recognized you." Kole said excitedly digging through his pockets again.

"You had the One Tailed Beast sealed in you." He started to pull pens out of his pockets and pile them on the floor in front of him.

"I no longer possess Shukaku I only retain the ability to manipulate the sand." Gaara said.

"What if I could give you back your sand ability?"

"You think you can really do that?' Clover asked.

"If he can still tap into his chakra and I use the right symbols. But we'll have to hurry. It's getting dark he'll be starting soon. If we can do this we have a way to save Scarlett. So do you want to try?" Kole asked holding up one of his pens.

"Yes." Gaara said holding out his arm.


	20. Chapter 20

_**Oh Lookie here. I have another update for you. This was a rather tricky part to explain, so if anything doesn't make since make sure and let me know.**_

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><p>"Hold still." Kole said straightening out Gaara's palm once again.<p>

It wasn't easy for Gaara to hold still as he did this. Thanks to Kole's concoctions, he and Clover were feeling much better, and he was able to move around without pain, but having Kole touch him for such a long time was making him uncomfortable.

"What kind of symbols are these." Gaara asked as he watched Kole draw the alien marks on his palms. "They're kind of hard to explain." Kole said moving up Gaara's arm. He was drawing fast, but Clover still looked worried.

"There are kind of like the hand symbols most of the people in your world use. They were once used, but they have unique properties that caused them to become forbidden. Properties such as the ability to create people like Clover and Scarlett, even me. They have power like most have never seen and if you can harvest and understand that power then you become like Adam, corrupted, and evil." Kole explained.

"You've hardly told me anything." Gaara said.

Kole stopped and looked at him. "You're very observant. " he said finally cracking a small smile and continuing his artwork.

"Your hand symbols can only do so much, and only if you have chakra. The marks however can be used by anyone, and can do many, many things. If I told you I was blind you would call me a liar." He pulled one eyelid down and showed Gaara the marking that was tattooed there.

"Without this mark I would not be able to see, but it has to be drawn correctly. The marks are so sensitive that even a slight change in the way it's drawn can cause some rather nasty effects. That is mainly why they were banned; they caused too many casualties."

"So you can fix Scarlett's eyes once we rescue her?" Gaara wondered.

Kole stopped suddenly and he and Clover shared a look. Clover's face suddenly became very sad and she quickly looked away, biting her lip.

"Scarlett lost her sight." Kole asked continuing his work, starting on Gaara's other palm.

"She told me the light hurt her eyes, and she couldn't open them."

"Then it is as we feared."

The room fell silent with a heavy sadness that Gaara didn't quite understand. Clover finally broke the silence speaking in a choked voice, knowing Gaara need and explanation. "The marks are rejecting Scarlett."

"What does that mean?" Gaara asked. Kole uncapped a red pen and began coloring in Gaara's arms.

"The symbols that make interplanetary travel possible are a very delicate hybrid of marks. They kind of have a mind of their own and if they decide to reject you if can be very life threatening the more you use them. That is how I lost my eyesight and most of the use in my right arm, without all of my body art I wouldn't be much use right now. We unfortunately did not figure out what had caused all this in me till after Scarlett's birth. Scarlett was made to be a portal, but there was always the chance that the marks would reject her because of my genes, even though they work for Clover."

"Clover and I started to suspect that they were rejecting her when her blackouts started. She doesn't actually blackout, her consciousness makes the jump to go to a different world but her body stays, unable to follow. We had hoped that it would be because she couldn't control her powers, but since she's losing her sight it is unfortunately not so. Adam will not care however, he will use Scarlett to bring his apocalypse, no matter what happens."

"Well if you would hurry up we would be able to stop him in time." Clover said impatience replacing the sadness in her voice.

"I'm done now." Kole said capping his pens and taking a look at his handy-work. "These pens have a special ink in them that makes it completely permanent for three hours. We have until then to rescue Scarlett and be gone. Try it out."

Gaara concentrated on the sand he knew waited where it had fallen uselessly from Clover. A moment passed and he felt the familiar grains slide over his body, welcoming him back into its embrace.

"Excellent." Kole said as the sand swarmed around Gaara. Gaara was slightly amazed, he hadn't expected fully expected it to work.

"Lets go." Clover saidheading towards the door.

"What plan do you have in mind?" Kole said grabbing her arm. Clover jerked out of his reach and glared. "You don't have one do you?"

Clover looked away with a pout.

"Listen close then." Kole said with a sigh.

"Gaara you will use your sand to take out the guards. We'll give you a five minute head start, make is swift, make it quiet, and above all make sure they are dead. If he doesn't have any back up then he'll be forced to abort any summons he's started using Scarlett for. Clover, I will attack him head on, you will get Scarlett, grab Gaara, and go. Take them back to Gaara's village and go from there. Do not try and take Adam down, Clover. I will take care of him." Kole said giving Clover a stern look. "Gaara when the guards are dead help Clover any way you need to. Got it?"

Clover and Gaara nodded and they set their plan into action.

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><p>Temari stared dismally at her house.<p>

The entire thing was in quarantine and surrounded by highly skilled ninja who refused entrance to anyone, even her. As soon as the man was gone the ooze evaporated into thin air. Temari checked Baki to make sure he was still breathing and brought him to consciousness. They went straight to the council, but they had refused to mobilize the ninja until the village was threatened by more than just words.

They did however send ninja to her house and here they were the sun setting and Temari and Kankuro with nowhere to go, and Gaara was still missing.

"Do you really think that guy you saw can kill Gaara?" Kankuro asked.

They were sitting across the street watching silently, the air heavy with anticipation.

"I doubt it." Temari said.

Not really sure herself but she was the eldest. It was her responsibility to make things seem better than they actually word. "Gaara will be fine. No matter what kinds of trouble he gets in we both know Gaara can take care of himself."

Kankuro nodded feeling a little relief but still worried about his little brother and Scarlett. He didn't mention Scarlett to Temari though. He knew she was convinced that Scarlett was the cause of all this. Kankuro doubted it but Temari could be as stubborn as Gaara when she made her mind up. The night wore on, and both siblings and the ninja guarding the house began to think this was all for nothing.

Maybe the silver haired man had been a figment of Temari's exhausted and overworked mind. But there was no way bother her and Baki would dream of the same guy. Neither even knew who he was. Kankuro stood up, he was going to go get some food; he was getting hungry.

"You want anything?" He asked his sister, she shook her head.

Just as he began to walk off a loud crash sounded inside the house. Everyone went on high alert ready to jump. There was nothing but silence for a few moments; then the confusion began.

It started with a giant dog thing bursting through the side wall of the house. It was massive and scaly and began tearing into anything it could reach. Next came strange bat like creatures with hunched over elongated bodies. More dog creatures soon followed and the battle was on.

"Alert the council." Kankuro yelled at a ninja who stood near him.

"Let's go Kankuro." Temari said drawing her fan.


	21. Chapter 21

_**I skipped valuable homework time to write this for you so you better be greatful. I hope you enjoy even if you aren't though.**_

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><p>Taking down the guards were easy now that Gaara had his sand back.<p>

He relished the joy of being able to use his sand again, it was like having an arm cut off when he couldn't use it. He knew he had a short time limit, but so long as he had his sand he wasn't a vulnerable weakling and he was going to use that fact to destroy everything that pissed him off. That included the bastard that kidnapped Scarlett if he found him.

First he had to find her however so he finished of the guards and continued silently through the building. Behind a locked door an overpowering smell of blood reached his nose. He made short work of the locks with his sand and continued cautiously inside, closing and locking the doors behind was a small, dimly lit room with deteriorating boxes and other sheet covered lumps.

Scarlett hung on the far wall. She was chained by her wrist and ankles, blood oozing out of wounds from where she had struggled, staining her clothes and mixing with black ooze when it dripped down her feet. She still wore the blindfold but it was bloodied as well. Her head hung to the side awkwardly and for a minute Gaara thought her dead, but then there was a shaky moving of her chest when he looked closer and he swallowed his rage.

He needed to keep a level head. Clover appeared in front of Scarlett suddenly and started trying to undo the chains that held her to the wall. Gaara went to step forward to help but his sand moved in front of him with a soft hiss of moving grains warning him of danger. He scanned the room and could sense something threatening near where Clover was. Gaara stepped back into the shadows and watched quietly, waiting.

"Damit."

Clover whispered as she tried to break the chains. Scarlett groaned but stayed asleep, exhausted and weak from loss of blood.

"My dear Clover, so nice of you to join my little party."

Adam said stepping out of his hiding place. A giant chimera stood next to him staring at Clover hungrily. Adam noticed the wary look that Clover gave the animal and smiled.

"Like my newest pet?" He asked giving the animal a loving pat on its massive neck.

"Fuck off." Clover said throwing a kunai at him.

The chimera lunged at the same time and caught the knife in its mouth like a dog would catch a stick. It turned back to Clover but Clover was gone. She reappeared behind the animal and managed to stab the thing in it eye before it tossed her to the ground. It then proceeded to give an animalistic scream before slamming a clawed foot on her chest.

"Alive." Adam addressed the animal and it removed its foot and kneeled down so Adam could look at his eye.

"You'll live. Go and get Kole for me." He said and the animal growled before running into a side room.

"Now my dear." Adam said when the Chimera was gone.

"I see you managed to survive the ambush I set up for you. It's a shame, I had hoped to spare you from seeing this."

Clover gasped on the floor clearly in pain but her eyes shot daggers at the silver haired man above her. Adam gripped the woman by her hair and pulled her into a standing position. He then half dragged half dragged half carried Clover over to stand in front of Scarlett. He dropped Clover to the ground and went to Scarlett, brushing a piece of hair out of his granddaughters face.

The Chimera returned pushing Kole in front of him impatiently.

"Ahhh, there you are. I want you both to see this. Turn Clover so that she can see. I don't think the poor dear can do it herself."

Kole did as he was told and held up Clover, forcing her to stare the bloody mess of her daughter. The chimera took a seat next to them glancing every so often at them to make sure they weren't doing anything her could bite them for.

"Behold, my portal. She's almost perfect isn't she? Shame that she had to take after you Kole, she would be so much better off, and I wouldn't have to be forcing so much out her in such a short time."

Kole stayed quiet, Clover tried to say something but the chimera wacked her in the side with its tail winding her, so she just spit blood at Adams feet.

"So impolite. I thought I had taught you better." Adam said shaking his head.

"Well bad parenting aside, let's have a demonstration."

He turned to Scarlett and drew a symbol in the air in front of her. Symbols identical to the ones Gaara had found in his living room glowed in a ghastly red circle around her. The ooze at her feet started crawling up her body until it reached her mouth. The room was then filled with an ear piercing scream as Scarlett awoke and began struggling like a mad woman against her chains, reopening her wounds. The ooze went into her mouth and retracted again falling at her feet suddenly as if it had become too heavy to hold itself up. Scarlett screaming quieted down into sobs and the girl shivered against the wall tears mixing with the blood that ran down her face.

The ooze suddenly formed into a bat like creature and flapped around the room once before landing on Adams shoulder.

"She screams so much louder when I send them to our world." Adam said petting the little bat creature sounding almost disappointed.

Kole did his best to keep his face neutral while Clover had her eyes squeezed shut like she was trying to wake up from a nightmare.

Gaara's body shuddered with rage, the echo of Scarlett's screams ringing in his ears.

"Let me show you." Adam said moving towards Scarlett again.

He raised his arm start the summoning process again and found sand wrapped around it like a snake. He stared at it puzzled until it constricted causing the bones in his arm to start making sharp popping noises. He yelled and tried to brush the sand off but it would budge. Gaara emerged from his hiding place, with a deadly look in his eyes. The sand poured off of Adam and came back to Gaara encircling him lovingly.

"You! You should be dead." Adam exclaimed glaring at Gaara with just as much hatred.

Kole took Adams slight distraction as his cue to inject Clover with something before jumping up at Adam with a much more deadly object than a needle. Adam dodged and the Chimera interfered getting the full brunt of a knife in its neck. It kept attacking however even with the thick black ooze pouring out of him. "Traitor." Adam yelled. The bat creature joined in attacking Kole as well and he was overwhelmed. Gaara started to help him but then Clover was up.

"Finish him." She yelled at Gaara while jumping on the back of the chimera. Gaara turned to Adam who smiled wickedly at him.

"You really think you can defeat me little boy?" He asked.

Gaara gave him a malicious smile back and sent his sand flying towards him. Adam's ooze met it half way making sticky mess on the floor as the two entities collided and fell to the ground. Gaara lunged after him only to be stopped by Adam holding a knife to Scarlett's throat.

"Ah, ah, ah we forget who has the upper hand here." He said and pressed the knife deeper and Scarlett whimpered.

"I don't even have to slit her throat completely. She's lost so much blood already one good cut and she'll finish bleeding to death before you can reach me."

Gaara glared unsure of what to do. In all his years he had never been in a situation where someone else mattered more than him. He looked at Scarlett, a bloody mess of a girl chained to a wall, whimpering helplessly, and instead of being repulsed, all he could think was 'please don't die'. He stood motionlessly hearing the phrase repeat in his head and glared at Adam helplessly.

"That's a good boy." Adam said pulling the knife away from Scarlett's throat.

He then used it to draw his summoning symbol in the air in front of her. Immediately Scarlett started screaming and thrashing about. Kole rammed into Adam suddenly and Clover limped over towards Scarlett wipeing an ooze covered blade on her jeans.

"Make it stop." She yelled at Adam who was now being pinned down by Kole.

"I wouldn't even if I could." He replied laughing hysterically.

All Gaara could hear was the sound of Scarlett shrieking, the horrible noise of it swimming around his head making it hurt. The sound of her screaming and 'please don't die' repeated over and over until something inside him snapped. The next few minutes were a blur. He could feel his fists making contact with something, and the sound of bones snapping.

Then everything went black, and finally there was silence.


	22. Chapter 22

_**Here's another update. Enjoy!**_

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><p>Gaara awoke disoriented and fuzzy.<p>

His mouth felt full of cotton and his vision swam. He shook his head slightly and reopened his eyes thankful the room had stopped spinning so much. He had never passed out before. Even when he would feign sleep and let Shukaku take over he was still aware of what was going on.

All he could remember was black and screaming.

Gaara jumped out of bed remembering that Scarlett was still in danger. His legs bent like wet noodles at first but then he was up and stumbling down the hallway, only vaguely aware he was in a hospital somewhere.

"Sir Kazekage." A voice said somewhere near him.

Gaara ignored it and stumbled on, all he could think of was Scarlett pinned to the wall covered in blood and screaming. Suddenly Kankuro was there giving him a concerned look.

"Gaara you should be resting." Temari said making Gaara realize she was standing there too.

"I… Scarlett." Gaara said putting his hand to his throbbing head.

"You can see her later right now you need rest." Temari said reaching for his arm to lead him back to his room.

"Now" Gaara said jerking away, ignoring the nauseated feeling that washed over him.

"Come on Temari. We both know he isn't going to go anywhere till he sees that she is okay." Kankuro pleaded on his behalf. Temari bit her lip unhappily.

"Fine. Just a quick visit." She said relenting.

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><p>Scarlett stared up at the ceiling, everything hurt even breathing and she felt dizzy when she sat up.<p>

She had been in this place three days and it didn't look like she was going to get out anytime soon. The doctors and nurses were always fussing over her,and wouldn't tell her anything. He mother was in and out, as well as a guy names Kole who was constantly messing with her eyes.

He told her that with as much strain as she went through she had popped almost all the blood vessels in her eyes, rendering her almost completely blind. He said he was saving them and since she could see now when before it hurt to open them, she guessed he was trust worthy. Besides them Kankuro came to visit her often, Temari came too sometimes.

Kankuro would chat happily while Temari joined in politely when she needed too. The two kept her updated on Gaara so she didn't panic, and it help knowing he was fine but still not conscious. The unconsciousness worried her but they said his vitals were fine, so he was fine.

"Scarlett. I have a surprise for you." Kankuro said entering the room.

"What is it?" Scarlett asked giving him a weak smile.

Kankuro just smiled in response and helped her sit up before nodding at Temari. Temari left the room and entered again a few minutes later followed by and angry looking red head. Scarlett's breath caught in her throat and the two stared at each other, neither of them knowing what to say.

"Come on." Kankuro whispered to Temari before pulling her out of the room. "Let's give them a moment alone."

Gaara looked over Scarlett trying to see what was still damaged. She was pale, very pale, but he could see a small tinge of pink in her cheeks that he supposed was a good sign. Bandages were wrapped around her wrist and her eyes were bloodshot but she could see him and that was a good.

"Are you…" Gaara started to ask but he couldn't finish his sentence. Her just trailed off and continued staring unsure of what to say.

"I'm fine" Scarlett said blushing a little "Thanks to you." She added going redder.

"Good" Gaara said his mouth dry, and then lapsed into silence again.

"Gaara I-" Scarlett started before a loud noise outside her door interrupted her.

"I don't care what he's doing I need to talk to him now." An angry female voice was yelling.

Gaara turned and Clover walked through the door Temari rushing in behind her angry as well.

"We need to talk." Clover demanded at Gaara.

"He needs to do no such thing. He needs to go back to his room and rest." Temari said.

Gaara nodded at Clover and sent Scarlett a glance over his shoulder before leaving the room. Clover followed him, Temari protesting all the while.

"Enough" Gaara said annoyed with his sister. "I will go back to my room but I need to consult with Mrs. Hindricks alone. I will send for you when we are done."

Temari gaped at her brother before snapping her mouth shut and stomping away.

"I haven't been called Mrs. Hindricks in a long time." Clover said when they entered Gaara's room. "Though, I suppose I still am." She added.

Gaara's sheets had been changed while he was gone and a pitcher of water and a glass sat on the table next to the bed. He poured himself some water and sat on the bed Clover stood across the room eyeing him.

"What happened?" Gaara demanded when he was done drinking.

"What do you remember?" Clover answered.

"Screaming" Gaara replied.

Clover was quiet for a moment. "You went psycho." She finally said.

Gaara stayed silent not surprised by the news.

"To put this in nice terms Adam is dead and won't be coming back thanks to you." Gaara nodded.

"Scarlett will be fine too. After Kole sedated you he stopped the creatures and we took both of you back here and now your safe and Scarlett is free from threat." Clover finished and stared at the ground.

"There's more." Gaara stated knowing that she didn't need to talk to him about what happened. Clover sighed and gave a nod.

"Scarlett… Scarlett is going to be find and despite scars she we'll eventually go back to being her normal self." Gaara poured himself more water and waited for her to continue.

"Scarlett needs to go home." Clover finally said.

"She has many people there worried about her and she can't just abandon them. As much as she cares for you, she cares for them and she would be heartbroken if she knew what a miserable state she left them in. Especially Henery, you can't keep her here, and if you try, I'll, I'll…"

Clover trailed off at that point. Afraid she had gone too far, and after seeing Gaara snap she really didn't want to be on the receiving end of that anger.

"I have no intention of keeping her here against her will." Gaara said quietly.

Clover blinked surprised after seeing what the boy had done to get her back she hadn't expected him to let her go so easily. At the very least she had expected an argument or two. Gaara looked very pained as he said the next part surprising Clover even more.

"I think it would be best if she did go back. If she hadn't come here she would have never have gone through this."

"You're wrong." Kole interrupted.

The tattooed man slowly rolled himself into Gaara's room now stuck in a wheelchair. Gaara didn't remember him looked so frail and old.

"I lost my legs reversing the summons." Kole explained answering Gaara's unanswered question.

"I told you the teleporting symbols are a bitch when they don't want to work." He said with a small chuckle that turned into a cough.

Clover stepped closer in case he needed help Kole waved her away and turned his attention back to Gaara.

"Scarlett never had a choice when it came to coming here. It was planned soon after a man started writing about our world, a man named Kishimoto. Neither of us knew where he gained his information or why he wrote his stories but Scarlett was a devote follower and that provided enough of a plan for Adam. He had first planned to use the main character but then she fell in love with you. It changed things slightly, but he worked through it and when Scarlett was focusing solely on you, he forced the symbols in her to activate and brought you to her. He then sent you back, and when Scarlett, now knowing that she could actually go to your world, concentrated on being with you again, he sent her to you. Setting his plan into motion."

Clover and Gaara listened silently until Kole finished. Gaara said nothing while Clover whispered 'bastard' under her breath.

"Scarlett may not have had much a choice before, but I think we should give her one." Kole continued when the room stayed silent.

"What do you mean?" Clover asked.

"You want her to go back because you think she would hate to abandon her family there." Kole said then turned to Gaara.

"You want her to stay because you have feelings for her. Don't pretend that you don't either. No man would have gone as far as you did for a woman unless he cared for her."

Gaara looked away his ears burning slightly.

"I think that if we give her the choice she will come to make a decision that's best for her."

"I suppose we should." Clover agreed quietly.

Gaara nodded his agreement, too unsure of what he should hope for.


	23. Chapter 23

_**So here it is, we are at the end. This chapter also happenes to be why the story is rated mature. It doesnt actaully have any gory details but eludes to s-e-x so I figred better safe than sorry. Ayways enjoy.**_

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><p>Scarlett fingered the bracelet on her wrist nervously.<p>

Gaara had given it to her as a present; he hadn't said why he had just given it to her and told her to wear it. Right now he was looking handsome in his black attire and she couldn't help glancing at him every so often. Sometimes he would be looking back at her and she would feel her heart skip a beat. Then she would feel bad because she shouldn't be thinking about boys at funeral.

Kole had died soon after he explained everything about Adam and her mother and why she had to go through what she did. He had left her with a tough decision to make and a few hours later he was dead. She was sad he was dead because he was a nice man and had helped save her, but it was hard to feel any real sorrow. It wasn't like he was her real Father and even her mother had said she felt no love for him, but she cared enough to shed a tear for him.

So Scarlett tried to keep her thoughts from wondering but it was hard, she had been in the hospital for almost two months now and this was one of her first trips outside its stark white hallways since the ordeal. She felt slightly dizzy and was sleepy and it was hard not to admire how nice Gaara looked.

* * *

><p>A few hours later Scarlett was back at the hospital gathering up her things. The doctors had decided to release her into home care since she had done so well at the funeral.<p>

"Need a hand." He mother asked appearing suddenly in her doorway.

"No thanks. It's not like I have much to carry."

Clover took the bag from her anyways and sat it on the bed.

"What's wrong mom?"

"I know that Kole already explained the situation to you, about choosing whether to go home or stay here, but I… I want you to know that I think it would be best if you went back."

Clover held up her hand to stop her daughter's protests.

"I'm not saying you have to but I want you to think about how devastated when I left. If I could have done things differently I would have chosen to stay. I didn't want to leave you, or your brother, but I had to so I could protect you. I'm not saying I regret it, but you will. I know you love Gaara and it's hard to let go of someone you love."

Clover got choked up at this part.

"I want you to be happy so I won't force you to decide wither way. Just think about it. Okay?"

Clover gave her daughter a teary smile Scarlett wrapped her arms around Clover and gave her a hug.

"I will mom."

* * *

><p>Ever since Scarlett had come back to Gaara's house from the hospital she had become a constant whining noise in Gaara's ear.<p>

It wasn't that she physically annoyed him or anything, it was that no matter what Gaara did to try and get Scarlett of his mind; she would find a way to worm herself back into his thoughts. Scarlett also had yet to make a decision about whether she was going to go with her mom or stay in this world with him. With these two thing s combined Gaara would have become an insomniac if he hadn't been one already.

During the night was the worst. He could feel her presence like a heavy weight on his chest. He could almost see her up there in her bed. Hair tossed back behind her covering her pillow, legs tangled up awkwardly in her blankets, chest rising and falling in the steady rhythm of sleep. When they had first met Gaara had no qualms about watching her sleep, he had found it interesting. But something had changed, whenever he felt strange whenever he went towards her door.

It was like there was some invisible force pushing him away, telling him it was wrong to watcher her while she slept. It didn't stop him from thinking about her however and more often than not he had to force himself to think of other things or he would find himself standing at the edge of her bed like the creep he was sure he was becoming.

Tonight something was off however. The house was asleep and Gaara was up late working on some paper work he had brought home. He was trying to concentrate but the feeling that something wasn't quite wrong buzzed in the back of his skull like a mosquito. The harder he tried to grasp the feeling, the smaller and harder it became to pin. He became so emerged in trying to pin what was off that he was actually startled slightly by the sound of his door creaking open. He shot into a defensive crouch and instantly relaxed when he saw it was only Scarlett peeking at him through the half open door.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to bother you." She said and made a move to leave.

"It's nothing important." Gaara said indicating the paper work.

Scarlett stopped and chewed her lip like she was trying to decide something.

"Do you need something?" he asked prompting her to speak.

"I…it's…never mind. It's stupid." She said turning to leave.

Gaara went over and grabbed her arm. He didn't say anything he just held her gaze till Scarlett looked away, her ears turning slightly red.

"I…I just wanted to tell you something. It probably stupid and… and I'm sure you already know. But I felt that you… you should hear it out loud."

She had come to tell him she was leaving. That was why she was acting so strange. He had suspected that she would go with her mom. He hated the way it made him feel to think she would be gone soon, but he had promised himself, and others, a long time ago that he wouldn't stop her. Scarlett took a deep breath and Gaara prepared himself to hear her say the words out loud. He nearly had the wind knocked out of him by what she was actually there in the middle of the night to tell him.

"I love you."

She whispered so quietly he almost didn't believe she had said it. Then she said it again louder this time.

"I love you Gaara. I always have. I know that you probably already knew, it's not like it was the greatest kept secret in the world. Not that it was a secret. But I needed to say it because I needed to know that you knew. You know? And… and…"

Her words were coming in a rush now, she was rambling. Not knowing that Gaara had stopped listening after she had said the first three words.

He had suspected that Scarlett had feelings for him. It was always something in the way she blushed and acted fluttery around him, even when she was trying to be casual around him. However he had never expected her to say it out loud. Plenty of girls had batted their eyelashes at him; many had all but stripped naked in front of him just to get him to look at them. Not one of them had the guts to confess their feeling for him.

Here Scarlett stood, the one person her had ever met that he was upset about losing, and she had said the three words he never knew he wanted to hear. Without forming a conscious thought about it he pulled Scarlett closer to him and kissed her cutting her off mid-sentence.

Her lips were soft and tasted sweet.

Normally Gaara didn't like sweet things but this was the kind of sweet that Gaara could taste every day and never grow tired of. He pulled her even closer feeling her heat beat frantically near his, enjoying the way she melted into him, like she belonged there.

Scarlett's brain was numb and for a minute her entire body was paralyzed. Then she thawed like a Popsicle in summer heat.

She was kissing him, really kissing him. Ever since she had learned he was an actually living breathing person she had wanted this, and it was happening. Slightly chapped lips pressed against hers, strong arms pulling her closer than she had ever thought she would be.

When they finally came up for air Gaara couldn't help but adore the way Scarlett's face turned red and the way she tried to voice words that didn't need to be said. Before she could start rambling again or worse, faint, Gaara kissed her again, and again, a quiet hunger than grew until there were reduced to nothing but the burn of bare skin pressed together.

The slight taste of sweat.

The softness of her hair sliding across his chest.

The awkward tangle of limbs wound around each other.

For the first time that Gaara could remember he was actually glad he couldn't fall asleep, he would be too afraid to wake up and find that this was some cruel dream to show him what he couldn't have.

Gaara held her close as they layed in his bed, lightly tracing the slight bump of the scar on her back. The steady motion was making Scarlett sleepy and she yawned. Gaara smirked at her and Scarlett giggled before his lips found hers again.

Soon after Scarlett was asleep and Gaara was watching her, no longer feeling like he was a creep for wanting to.

It was close to dawn when she woke up. Gaara had sent the entire night wondering how he could ever in a million years deserve to even be considered a suitable mate for someone like Scarlett.

She looked sad as she woke up and for a minute Gaara was actually afraid that she was going to think this was all some horrible mistake and run away from him. Her sad look however was quickly replaced with a dreamy smile and she snuggled closer to him with a content sigh. Gaara brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead.

"Good morning." She croaked.

The sound startled her but she cleared and throat and gave him another smile.

"You're thirsty." Gaara said and reluctantly dragged himself out of bed.

"Where are you going?" Scarlett asked sitting up watching as Gaara slid his pants on and trying not to blush.

"Water" Gaara replied leaving the room.

Clover was coming up the stairs just as Gaara was heading down them to the kitchen.

"Nice bed head." She said.

"I thought you were leaving." Gaara said pausing for a minute.

"I am, just got one more thing to pack." Clover replied.

"Have a safe trip." Gaara said and continued on his way.

Clover shook her head sadly, if only the poor boy knew. Gaara gulped down a glass of water before filling the cup up and made his way back to his room. He opened the door expecting to still find Scarlett there wrapped up in his sheets possibly already asleep again.

Instead all he found was an empty bed and a note addressed to him.

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><p><em><strong>Okay so before you guys get all angry there is actually a few more chapters. Just wanted to scare you a little. It keeps you on your toes. *Cue evil laughter*<strong>_


	24. Chapter 24

_**Okay so I lied I'm sorry. It wasn't the end but somehow I think you'll forgive me. We are close thought so don't worry. There just ended up being a few loose ends I needed to tie up before I could officially end this. So sit back, relax, and enjoy.**_

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><p>Gaara sat outside viewing the busy market place of his Village.<p>

He didn't often do this but every once in a while it was nice to get out of the office and enjoy some fresh air. Kankuro had joined him for a minute but had soon run off to find something cool to drink. He watched as a couple strolled by holding hands and he tried not to let it get to him.

It was almost five years ago the she disappeared and he still felt a pain in his heart any time he thought of her, which was more often than he would admit to anyone. He picked up his paperwork and pretended to look busy.

It was one thing for him to sit outside; it was another completely if he didn't look like he was doing something important. After all he did have an image to uphold. He sat there going over his paperwork, trying and failing to focus.

It wasn't long before he felt like he was being watched. Looking up he found a little girl no more than three or four staring at him with large green eyes. Her red hair fell in waves around her small shoulders and she had a small almost heart shaped mole near her left eye. She stared at him like she was trying to decide something.

Gaara stared back, unsure of what to do. Kids were never his strong point; idly he wondered where the girl's mother was.

"You're not scary." she said finally taking Gaara by surprise.

Most kids did think he was scary, if only because they heard their mothers whisper it. It was strange to see a kid as young as she was staring at him without the slightest look of fear. If anything the girl looked disappointed that he wasn't scary.

"My mommy says people think you're scary, but you're not scary."

A voice in the distance called out and the girl gave an annoyed look in the direction in came from.

"Smile, it's not so bad." She said before taking off.

Gaara shook his head as if trying to clear it from a fog and started to go back to his paperwork. He looked back up just to make sure the girl had reunited with her mother, and had to do a double take. The little girl was joining hands with a woman with long brown hair. He only caught a glimpse of her face but that all it took.

"What's up Gaara? You look like you've just seen a ghost." Kankuro said rejoining him with a snow cone in hand.

Gaara didn't answer he sat his papers down and went after the little girl and her mother. He sped up as they rounded the corner knowing full well he was being perceived as crazy by the people he ran past. However as he rounded the corner neither the woman nor the child were anywhere in sight. It was like they had disappeared into thin air.

All afternoon Gaara couldn't get his mind of what he had seen. He ignored Kankuro's questions when he went back to get his paperwork and for the rest of the day he sat in his office brooding and avoiding people. It wasn't the first time he had imagined seeing Scarlett.

Within the first few months he saw her everywhere, it had become so unbearable that he barely went outside for a while.

Every rational part of him was telling him that there was no way that Scarlett was back, especially with a child. But everything else inside him was arguing against his common sense. He was almost completely sure that it was her, his entire body had responded to that short look at her face.

It wasn't like when he imagined seeing her, it had to be the real thing. But then who was the little girl and where had they disappeared to so suddenly? Gaara finally gave up any pretense of work and headed home. He had better distractions there, he would take his mind off of it forget about what happened.

Upon entering his house he found the living room littered with old boxes of toys that Gaara hadn't seen in a long time. Temari was probably doing spring cleaning. She did that sometimes, she would come home see how neglected the house was and go into a frenzy cleaning it from top to bottom. Temari herself however was not there.

He shrugged it off and headed towards his room stopping suddenly next to the basement door. The soft sounds of a piano playing drifted out to him from behind the closed door, singing the melody of a song that Gaara had only heard one person play before. He opened the door quietly and silently went down the stairs.

The little girl he had seen in the market place sat at the piano playing skillfully. Her little fingers barely stumbled over the keys and she had a trance like smile on her face. Gaara stood there dumbfounded.

Who was this little girl? Why was she in his house?

"You can come and sit next to me. I won't bite." The little girl said without stopping.

She hadn't looked away from the piano once, which made Gaara even more curious as to whom she was. He cautiously went and sat next to her one the bench watching as her nimble little fingers played.

"You're wondering how I knew you were there." She didn't say it as a question; she stated it as a fact, like she knew what he was thinking. Gaara said nothing and the girl continued.

"I just knew." Was her answer

"Mommy says it's probably something I got from my daddy's side of the family. It's cool though no one can ever sneak up on me."

"Who is you mother?" Gaara asked trying to speak softly so he didn't scare her. The girl stopped playing and smiled.

"I could tell you… but that would ruin it." She was up and running then.

Gaara got up to go after her wanting to know what she was talking about.

The door opened just as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Scarlett stood at the top, the little girl on her hip and Temari behind her.

"Let me take her." Temari said and Scarlett handed the little girl to her.

"Come on, we'll go see if we have any snacks." Temari said sweetly and the little girl followed flashing a mischievous grin at Gaara.

The two stared at each other, neither one knowing what to say.

"Hi." Scarlett said blushing at looking down at her feet.

Gaara was still just as handsome as he had ever been, she didn't expect anything different. She just wished it didn't make her revert back to her goofy seventeen year old self.

Gaara didn't know what he should do. All this time missing her and thinking of her and now she was here. Gaara slowly walked up the stairs never taking his eyes off her, not saying anything.

Scarlett was trying not to let his silence get to her. Gaara was a man of few words, but she couldn't tell if he was glad to see her or mad, and that made her nervous.

"I know you probably don't want to see me but…we…we should talk." She forced herself to say.

Gaara nodded agreeing and led her to the library. It was a neutral place to talk and had had a door so they wouldn't be interrupted. Scarlett took a seat in one of the chairs and stared down at her lap. Gaara stood with his arms crossed near the window.

He was trying to be angry with her but she had her reasons for leaving, and then returning with child. Everyone needed closure; maybe it wouldn't be so hard when she actually said good-bye in person instead of in a note, a note that only said "_I'm sorry. I love you. Please forgive me."_

He had read the words over and over again until they were nothing but faded ink on a tearing graying piece of paper, and still he willed them to change, to be something other than a hastily written apology for her leaving him.

"You're probably wondering why I'm here." Scarlett said finally breaking the silence.

"You came to say good-bye." Gaara stated.

Scarlett gave him a funny look.

"You have a child. Your husband…is good to you. I hope." Gaara said.

It hurt to say those words but he honestly wasn't sure if he could last much longer in the same room as her. He needed to end this and be quick about it. Scarlett continued to stare at him bewildered.

"I'm not married." She said.

Gaara felt his neck flush with heat. "I see." He said.

"I don't think you do." Scarlett replied.

It was now Gaara's turn to give her a strange look.

"Gaara I've only been with one person in my entire life, and I had to leave him. Even though I really didn't want to." Scarlett finished and turned bright red.

It only took a moment for Gaara to understand what she was saying. When all the pieces finally clicked he went a little light headed. That little girl, the one who said he wasn't scary.

That was his daughter.


	25. Chapter 25

_**Okay so now it's officially all done. I hope you have enjoyed the story. On a side noge just becuase im done doesn't mean I wont take critiques into consideration. I am more tham willing to tweak the story if it needs it. (and it does, it's far from perfect.) Anywho thank you all you loyal readers and enjoy, as always.**_

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><p>Gaara used the windowsill to steady himself.<p>

He felt nauseous, and his head was a jumble of emotions. Scarlett left him for almost five years without a word and then suddenly appears out of the blue claiming he's the father of her child. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to that.

"Are you okay?" Scarlett asked watching Gaara go pale and then light green.

"Why…why now? Why did you come back?" Gaara stuttered out through gritted teeth.

"Because I could." Scarlett replied as if that was the most obvious answer in the world. Anger flashed through him and he turned an icy stare on her.

"That makes it ok?" he asked and Scarlett stared at him half scared half confused.

She just couldn't figure out what he was angry about. Gaara went over to the bookshelf and yanked a book down he opened it and threw a faded piece of paper at her. He took his place by the window again without another word.

Scarlett gingerly picked up the paper and read it; she fought back her tears as she remembered the night she wrote it.

"Gaara, you don't understand." She whispered.

"What is there to understand." Gaara said refusing to look at her.

He could hear the tears in her voice and he wanted her to suffer. He wanted her to feel the same pain he had felt these past years. But he knew he would break he saw her crying so instead he watched a small dirt devil swirl in the streets outside.

"I didn't want to leave you, you have to believe that." She tried again, a small humph was all she got as a reply. She took a deep breath and continued on.

"That night, the night I left. I hadn't meant to complicate things. I had only come to say good-bye, but then I couldn't, I couldn't tell you I was leaving, so I told you I love you instead. I meant it but I hadn't meant to cause you pain by saying it. After that night I wanted to leave even less than before, but there were many reasons that I needed to leave. I had to take care of things in my world before I could even think about leaving it. Henery may not be my biological brother, but he was a brother to me none the less and I knew he would drive himself insane looking for me. Think about it, while you were gone not only your siblings were looking for you, but your entire village was. Things with the leaf village even became shaky because a lot of the Village blamed them for your disappearance."

"Why did you take so long to come back then." Gaara said feeling his anger fade.

He wanted to stay mad at her but at the same time he just wanted to hold on to her and never let go.

"Why do you think?" Scarlett asked instead of answering.

Gaara shook his head after a moment not sure what he was supposed to think.

"I found out I was pregnant." Scarlett finally said."It wasn't safe for me to travel between worlds then. If you remember I have enough trouble doing it with just me. I wasn't going to put our child at risk like that. After she was born I had to wait until I was sure she would be okay to make the trip."

Scarlett got up and walked slowly over to Gaara. She rested a hand on his arm. When she met no resistance she said softy.

"I came back to you as soon as I could and I still love you. I understand if you don't feel the same."

Gaara said nothing and with a heavy heart Scarlett began to walk away. She had explained herself the best she could, it was up to him whether or not he would forgive her. That was all she could ask for even though she hoped for more. Gaara kept hearing 'our child' ring in his head. He had never dreamed he would be a father, at the same time though he had never expected to fall in love with someone. And after all this time of wanting her back was he really going to just let her walk out the door and disappear again?

"What's her name?" Gaara asked before Scarlett could reach the doorway.

"I named her Iris." Scarlett replied.

"It's…pretty." Gaara said.

"I thought so too." Scarlett agreed before reluctantly adding. "We should probably be going, it's getting late."

She started for the door again but suddenly Gaara was there blocking her path.

"Never leave me again." He said and kissed her.

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><p>Iris was accepted into the Sand Siblings household with little resistance.<p>

Temari was already in love with her, and once Kankuro found out who she was he the happiest Uncle that ever existed.

The Village elders had trouble accepting Scarlett back and even more trouble accepting the fact that Iris was Gaara's child. Discussion of the matter went on for a week with exile looking to be the outcome for Scarlett and Iris, until Gaara announced his intentions to marry Scarlett.

Months later Scarlett tried to sit still as Temari curled her hair. Her mother, Clover, sat playing with Iris and Belly stood in front of a floor length mirror frowning at all the fabric she had to wear. Scarlett had of course agreed to marry Gaara and an elaborate wedding was planned out between Temari and Clover, Scarlett only being able to pick out certain things, like the guest list.

Scarlett had refused to get married without Henery and her extended family present. So an elaborate scheme was concocted to get Henery and the gang to jump worlds without having to explain about the Adam and Kole mess. Henery still wasn't fond of Gaara but he tolerated him because his sister and niece asked him to.

"Why did you choose dresses with so much length? We're in the desert. You can get away with showing a little skin you know." Belly said tugging and her dress skirts again and making a face.

"I like them, and so does Scarlett." Temari said before putting her curling iron down and admiring her work. "There now. What do you think." She added with a satisfied grin.

"Beautiful." Clover said.

Iris crawled up in to Scarlett's lap and stared intently into her mother eyes.

"Yup. That's still my mommy." She finally said making the room laugh and getting wrapped in a hug by Scarlett.

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><p>Gaara stood fidgeting as he watched people file in and take their seats.<p>

He didn't like having so many people around. The wedding was being held inside a large tent that was set up a few miles outside of Sunagakure near one of the few oases. Extra guards were set up on patrol from both the Hidden leaf and Sand village and special measures were taken inside the tent to keep the heat from suffocating everyone. Gaara knew Scarlett was nearby in one of the other tents, but even thinking about her wasn't helping, large crowds always made him nervous.

Suddenly Naruto clapped a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

"You'll be okay. Just think as soon as this is over it can just be you and Scarlett again. Oh and I guess Iris too."

Gaara nodded and tried to relax. He had asked Naruto to be his Best Man considering that Naruto was his only actual friend. The fact that he was also the Hokage of their ally the Leaf Village didn't hurt things either. Naruto had been all too happy to accept and had taken the fact that Gaara had a girlfriend and a four year old daughter that he never mentioned before, in stride. He had helped Gaara keep his cool through the wedding planning stage and was now here helping him keep calm in the face of the actual wedding.

"Naruto, your tie." A soft voiced girl with dark blue hair said coming up next to him. Hinata was Naruto's current girlfriend and from the way they looked at each other even Gaara could tell they adored each other.

Suddenly the music started and it was time for the ceremony to begin. Hinata went and sat down next Sakura and a few other leaf ninja who had come to attend the wedding, including Rock Lee, and a guy with a spiky pony tail that had to be awoken from a nap by a sharp jab in the ribs from Sakura.

Naruto gave Gaara a quick smile before slipping out to take his place with the wedding precession. The entrance to the tent opened and a little girl with red hair began skipping down the aisle throwing flowers at the ground happily. Gaara smiled as he little girl came and stood near him beaming brighter than the sun.

Kankuro escorted Clover down the aisle and deposited her in her honorary seat at the front, and then the Groomsmen and bridesmaids came after.

Matsuri, who had reluctantly agreed to be in the wedding, came first in the arm of Scarlett's adopted brother Chris, and then Temari came with Scottie Boy. Naruto was up next and grinned goofily as he escorted the Maid of Honor, Belly.

The music paused for a moment and began again as the wedding march. Scarlett entered then, Henery guiding her to him.

When they reached the end Henery kissed Scarlett's forehead and smiled stiffly at Gaara before relinquishing his hold on his sister.

Scarlett blushed as Gaara smiled at her and in that moment it didn't matter that he was in a room full of people.

All that mattered was Scarlett was now his forever, and she always would be.


End file.
